Molecular- and Nano-Tubes

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Molecular- and Nano-Tubes

Oliver Hayden · Kornelius Nielsch Editors

Molecular- and Nano-Tubes

123

Editors Oliver Hayden Siemens AG Corporate Technology Erlangen, Germany [email protected]

Kornelius Nielsch University of Hamburg Institute of Applied Physics Hamburg, Germany [email protected]

ISBN 978-1-4419-9442-4 e-ISBN 978-1-4419-9443-1 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9443-1 Springer New York Dordrecht Heidelberg London Library of Congress Control Number: 2011931467 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part without the written permission of the publisher (Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden. The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Preface

Why for heaven’s sake a book on nanotubes or nanopore? Just another summary of nanoscale gimmicks without any hope for future engineering? The answer is in fact yes and no. Nanotubes and nanopores are probably the most fascinating materials on the nanoscale due to one simple reason: We can barely fabricate tubes and pores on the nanoscale top-down with a perfection such as carbon nanotubes and we are still puzzled by the elegant functionality of biological ion channels. At the same time we have clever bottom-up synthesized materials though it is not clear how we can solve the tremendous engineering problems associated for rational device architectures. When it comes to real-world applications the tubes and pores have obviously tremendous potential though only a few start-ups have currently products on the market. Limitations for new tube products are often related to the lack of sufficient bulk quantities and purity of the materials. For example in the case of carbon nanotubes the scattered intellectual property on material synthesis is one of the reasons why nanotube products are still in their infancy. The idea to a book on nanotubes and nanopores was the result of two symposia at the Material Research Society (MRS) conference held at Boston and San Francisco which the editors organized and where we realized that working interdisciplinary is still more of a buzzword in the community. Furthermore, we have been able to organise an exploratory workshop funded by the European Science Foundation (ESF) on nanowires and again experienced that the highly heterogeneous mix of scientists was one of the most fruitful experiences to exchange ideas across scientific borders though it is difficult to keep track on the exponential increase if applications. Thus, it was time to write something down not for all low-dimensional materials but for the least accessible materials from an engineering point-of-view: nanotubes and nanopores. Within this book we tried not to cover all aspects of tubes, which would go beyond the scope of the editors, but rather introduce the readers to tubular structures from biological, organic and inorganic materials as well as their functionality. Some nanotubes are synthesized by ingenious chemistry and others are spontaneously formed by physical processes which we often do not understand in detail. With respect to functionality we tried to cover the most interesting aspects of tubular materials, which should allow the readers to evaluate the potentials for these new

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materials and derive some rule of thumb for their own research or interest. Last, we have been adding chapters on top-down technologies which can be used to fabricate rational tubular structures on the nanoscale to give the reader an impression how creative scientists and engineers start to be when it comes to small holes. In most chapters the readers will find some critical theory to understand the physics as well as detailed descriptions of the chemistry applied. Furthermore, the authors of the chapters were asked to be critical about their own work and to explain critical experiments thoroughly. However, one should not expect to have a student textbook in his hand but a highly interdisciplinary book covering material synthesis, electronics, optics, and membrane science where basic understanding of the physics and chemistry is required to understand the content. This might also be the hint for the decision making process why to purchase our book on tubes and pores. Anyone who is interested in both applied science and engineering will probably benefit most. Last, we would like to thank all authors who have put much effort in their chapters. It was quite difficult to convince the principal investigators in academia and industry to participate. Some of the new exciting topics could not be covered such as sequencing with nanopores. Nevertheless, we believe that the selected topics are a good starting point for readers to think about material and engineering issues with nanotubes and nanopores. Only recently one of the PI’s, Prof. Dr. Ulrich Goesele, director of the MPI for Microstructure Physics at Halle, Germany, passed away. His outstanding contributions to materials physics and chemistry which regularly led to key innovation for industrial applications will be remembered. Our book is a tribute to him. Erlangen, Germany Hamburg, Germany

Oliver Hayden Kornelius Nielsch

Contents

1 Ion Channels, Nanotubes in Living Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Francisco Bezanilla

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2 Gramicidin Channels as Cation Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . Roger E. Koeppe II, Sigrid E. Schmutzer, and Olaf S. Andersen

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3 Self-Assembled Organic Nanotubes and Their Applications in Nano-Bio Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Toshimi Shimizu 4 Soft-Matter Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tatsiana Lobovkina, Aldo Jesorka, Björn Önfelt, Jan Lagerwall, Paul Dommersnes, and Owe Orwar 5 Mesoscopic Structure Formation in the Walls of Nanotubes Confined to Nanoporous Hard Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Martin Steinhart

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6 Biosensing with Nanopores and Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lindsay T. Sexton, Lloyd P. Horne, and Charles R. Martin

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7 Tunable Elastomeric Nanopores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G.R. Willmott, M.F. Broom, M.L. Jansen, R.M. Young, and W.M. Arnold

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8 Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicole Grobert, Siegmar Roth, John Robertson, and Cheol Jin Lee

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9 Nanotube and Graphene Polymer Composites for Photonics and Optoelectronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . T. Hasan, V. Scardaci, P.H. Tan, F. Bonaccorso, A.G. Rozhin, Z. Sun, and A.C. Ferrari 10

Electronic Transport in Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J. Knoch and J. Appenzeller

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Inorganic Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maja Remskar

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Synthesis Approaches of Inorganic Nanotubes . . . . . . . . . . . . Mihaela Daub and Kornelius Nielsch

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Macroporous Silicon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Andreas Langner, Frank Müller, and Ulrich Gösele

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Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Contributors

Olaf S. Andersen Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY 10065, USA, [email protected] J. Appenzeller School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA, [email protected] W.M. Arnold Industrial Research Limited, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, [email protected] Francisco Bezanilla Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA, [email protected] F. Bonaccorso Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK, [email protected] M.F. Broom Izon Science, Christchurch 8053, New Zealand, [email protected] Mihaela Daub Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, 06120 Halle, Germany, [email protected] Paul Dommersnes MSC, Université Paris Diderot, F-75205 Paris, France, [email protected] A.C. Ferrari Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0FA, UK, [email protected] Ulrich Gösele (deceased) Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, D-06120 Halle, Germany, [email protected] Nicole Grobert Department of Materials, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PH, UK, [email protected] T. Hasan Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK, [email protected] Lloyd P. Horne Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA, [email protected] ix

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M.L. Jansen Industrial Research Limited, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, [email protected] Aldo Jesorka Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Göteborg, Sweden, [email protected] J. Knoch Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany, [email protected] Roger E. Koeppe II Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA, [email protected] Jan Lagerwall Faculty of Chemistry and Physics, Institute of Chemistry – Physical Chemistry, Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, D-06108 Halle/Saale, Germany, [email protected] Cheol Jin Lee School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea, [email protected] Tatsiana Lobovkina Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Göteborg, Sweden, [email protected] Andreas Langner Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, D-06120 Halle, Germany, [email protected] Charles R. Martin Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA, [email protected] Frank Müller Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, D-06120 Halle, Germany, [email protected] Kornelius Nielsch Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, 06120 Halle, Germany; Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, 20355 Hamburg, Germany, [email protected]; [email protected] Björn Önfelt Department of Cell Physics, Royal Institute of Technology, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, Karolinska Institute, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden, [email protected] Owe Orwar Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Göteborg, Sweden, [email protected] Maja Remskar Jozef Stefan Institute, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia, [email protected] John Robertson Engineerings Department, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK, [email protected]

Contributors

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Siegmar Roth School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea; Sineurop Nanotech GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany, [email protected]; [email protected] A.G. Rozhin Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK, [email protected] V. Scardaci Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK, [email protected] Sigrid E. Schmutzer Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA, [email protected] Lindsay T. Sexton Department of Chemistry, Center for Research at the Bio/Nano Interface, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611-7200, USA Toshimi Shimizu Nanotube Research Center (NTRC), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan, [email protected] Martin Steinhart Institute for Chemistry, University of Osnabrück, 49069 Osnabrück, Germany, [email protected] Z. Sun Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FA, UK, [email protected] P.H. Tan Department of Engineering, Cambridge and State Key Laboratory for Superlattices and Microstructures, University of Cambridge, 912 Beijing, China, [email protected] G.R. Willmott Industrial Research Limited, Lower Hutt, New Zealand; The MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Lower Hutt, New Zealand, [email protected] R.M. Young Industrial Research Limited, Lower Hult, New Zealand, [email protected]

Chapter 1

Ion Channels, Nanotubes in Living Cells Francisco Bezanilla

Abstract Living cells are surrounded by a lipid bilayer that separates the internal from the external media. As the very hydrophobic nature of the core of the lipid bilayer prevents the exchange of charged species between the interior and exterior of the cell, there are specialized structures inserted in the lipid bilayer that carry out the exchange of ions. These structures are integral membrane proteins that may be classified as transporters, ion pumps and ion channels. Of special interest here are the ion channels which are proteins specialized to conduct ions across the membrane with the distinguishing characteristic that the ionic flow is driven exclusively by the electrochemical gradient of the conducted ionic species. These channels are found in the cell surface membrane and also in membranes of internal cell compartments. Different types of ionic channels. Following the classification of the Transport Classification Database of the University of California at San Diego (http://www. tcdb.org) the major subclasses within the channels/pore class of transporters are the 1. α-Type channels, 2. β-barrel porins, 3. pore-forming toxins, 4. Non-ribosomally synthesized channels and 5. Holins. The α-Type channels are transmembrane proteins found in all type of organisms from bacteria to higher eukaryotes and they consist mainly of α-helical membrane spanning segments. An example of this large group is the KcsA channel shown in Fig. 1.1. The β-barrel porins are found in the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria, mitochondria, plastids and possibly in acid-fast Gram-positive bacteria. The Pore-forming toxins are normally synthesized by one cell and after secreted to the medium they can insert into other cells and form pores that, in general produce transport of electrolytes and small molecules that kill the cell. Hemolysin is an example of a pore-forming toxin and is shown in Fig. 1.1. Although many molecules of type 2 and 3 have been studied in detail and some have been modified to be used as sensors, we will be mainly concentrate here on the α-type channels that play fundamental roles in cell homeostasis and dedicated function. The α-type channels have been characterized extensively in their function, genetics and structure.

F. Bezanilla (B) Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637, USA e-mail: [email protected]

O. Hayden, K. Nielsch (eds.), Molecular- and Nano-Tubes, C Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9443-1_1,

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Fig. 1.1 On the left is the full structure of KcsA [20] an α-Type channel and on the right is hemolysin [21] a pore forming toxin that is mainly a beta-barrel structure. The two white lines represent the approximate boundaries of the lipid bilayer

A brief history of ion channel research. The study of ionic conductances that were intimately connected to the desire to understand the origin of the nerve impulse using the squid giant axon, may be considered the first steps in ion channel research. The ion channel as a conducting pore with properties of permeation, selectivity and gating was introduced in the 1970s, before any data on ion channel molecular structure was available, based on electrophysiological evidences. During that time channels were incorporated to artificial lipid bilayers and the first recordings of the tiny currents through one isolated channel were obtained. The number of biological preparations was expanded enormously when the patch clamp was introduced that also allowed to see, for the first time, the opening and closing of the channels in their native membrane. After that, molecular cloning initiated our understanding of ion channels at the molecular level and it was further expanded by the crystal structures and spectroscopic methods since the 1990s. A more detailed account may be found in [1]. It is important to note that in ion channel research the source of the channels studied has essentially spanned the entire biological world. Ion channels are fundamental for ion exchange and they play a fundamental role at all levels of the biological scale, from resting potential to cell homeostasis. In several cases we have learned about the structure of a bacterial channel before its eukaryotic counterpart because it has been more amenable to over expression and crystallization but in the process we have learned that there is strong conservation within families across distantly related species. The objective of understanding how the function of a channel is carried out by the structure has driven a large part of the research but also

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practical applications, such as drug design have been a very strong driving force in ion channel research. Common features of ion channels. The fact that the driving force of ion conduction is the electrochemical gradient, suggests a simple picture whereby the protein has a conducting tube or pore, mostly hydrophilic, that connects both sides of the membrane. This minimum picture is normally complicated by specialized features that make channels selective, rectify and gate open and close. In addition, the minimum picture is complicated by the large number of families of ion channels that differ in their basic structure making it difficult, if not impossible, to talk about a prototypic ionic channel (see previous paragraph). The pore or the conducting tube, however is still the common theme in all these families but the pore is formed in very different ways in different families and this aspect is still the subject of active research giving us clues as of how conductance, selectivity and gating is achieved in different types of channels. Thus we should mention that are ion channels formed anywhere from one subunit (or homologous domain) to multiple subunits. Examples are: a single subunit per pore such as the Cl channel and the proton channel (although dimerized, forming two channels), three subunits (acid sensing ion channel), four subunits (or domains) (K+ channels, voltage gated Na+ and Ca2+ channels), five and seven subunits (ligand-gated and stretch activated channels). Ion channels are very efficient ion transport machines: typically they can carry about 108 ions per s and many of them they do so by excluding all other ionic species for which they are not selective. There is no external source of energy to carry out the ion transport, except for the electrochemical gradient of the ions being transported. Ion channels do not transport ions against the electrochemical gradient. The size of the channel varies greatly between different families and loosely depends on how complicated their function might be. For example, KcsA, a bacterial K+ channel that opens at low pH has a molecular weight of about 67 KD while a voltage gated Na+ channel is about 230 KD. The number of ion channels in cells depends on the cell type and the channels may be located in different densities in different parts of a cell depending on the specific cell function. For example, the number of Na channels can be as large as 30,000 in the node of Ranvier which has a very small area compared to the internodal region that has only a few channels. On the other hand in a non-myelinated nerve the Na channel density may vary between 6 and 300 channels per μm2 of cell surface area. Most of the ion channels gate. This means that the conduction pathway is not always available because it goes from closed to open or to some intermediate conducting state. In most cases this gating process is controlled by chemical and physical interactions of the channel protein and its surroundings. The role and function of ion channels had a sudden advance when the basic description of the ion conductance changes that are responsible for the generation and propagation of the nerve impulse were unveiled [2, 3]. Although the level of understanding in these studies was at the macroscopic level with only hints that the ionic conduction was through discrete entities [3] these studies revealed that the conductance was regulated by the membrane voltage. Once the recording of the currents through only

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one channel (single channel recording) was possible [4] we learned that the ionic conduction through the conducting pore is interrupted by periods when the pore does not conduct at all. The periods of conduction are controlled by the membrane potential in the case of the voltage-gated channels or by the concentration of the neurotransmitter in the case of the ligand-gated channels. Regardless of the mechanism, even channels that do not seem to be controlled by external physical or chemical forces, show interruptions in the ion conduction in a process that has been called gating. The molecular basis of the gating process has been clarified in several cases and varies from a conformational change of part of the channel protein that physically obstruct the conduction pathway to occlusion of the conduction pore by polyvalent cations driven by the electric field. Selectivity. The reason for the gating process becomes clear when one realizes that different types of channels exchange different ions and that the cell must regulate what ions must go in and out depending on the cell function and its metabolic state. Selectivity means that the channel will have preference for a particular ion over others even if the others are in excess. The classical example where selectivity plays a major role in cell homeostasis is the resting and active nerve. In nerve cells there are many types of ion channels but of particular interest for the nerve conduction are the sodium selective channels and the potassium selective channels. Most eukaryotic cells have a much larger concentration of K+ inside than outside and the reverse is true for Na+ ions (see Fig. 1.2). In the resting state, the cell has a voltage of about –70 mV (negative inside with respect to the outside). This membrane potential is mainly given by K+ channels and the membrane potential is very close to the equilibrium potential of K (see Fig. 1.2a). It is clear that if other ion channels, such as Na+ channels were in the conducting state, the resting potential would collapse. In fact, as a few Na+ channels are open, the membrane potential is not quite at the equilibrium potential of K+ and there is a small unidirectional flow on K+ leaving the cell and Na+ entering the cell that the sodium potassium pump has to correct by transporting those ions against their electrochemical gradient using the chemical energy of ATP. (see Fig. 1.2b). Because Na+ channels are selective to conduct Na+ ions, when the Na+ channels open the membrane becomes more selective to Na+ and the membrane potential shifts temporarily towards the Na+ equilibrium potential which is positive inside generating the upstroke of the nerve impulse which is terminated by an increase of the number of active K+ channels and decrease of conducting Na+ channels. The cycle of resting potential and nerve impulse illustrates how important is ion channel selectivity and its regulation by changing the number of channels that are open by external events, such as the membrane potential. Calcium channels are another example of an important player in the homeostasis in cells. Normally Ca2+ concentration is maintained at very low values inside the cell by keeping the Ca2+ channels closed. However, multiple fundamental processes are regulated by the increase in ionic Ca2+ in the cytoplasm such as the release of synaptic vesicles or muscle contraction and those changes in concentrations are carried out by opening Ca2+ channels either in the surface of the membrane or in Ca2+ channels located in membranes that delimit intracellular Ca-containing compartments.

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Fig. 1.2 Schematic representation of the ionic gradients, fluxes and the origin of the resting potential. The K ions (brown) are about 10 times more concentrated inside than outside the cell, while Na ions (blue) are 10 times more concentrated in the outside than inside. Anions are not pictured except for the ones that are in excess in one side with respect to the other side (red). (a). Case where the K channels (brown) are the only open channels. In this case the system is in equilibrium and the flux is zero because the chemical gradient is balanced by the electrical potential that is negative inside (see ionic dipoles across the membrane) according to the Nernst equation [22]. (b). In the more realistic case, in the resting state for about 10 K channels that are open one Na channel is open, therefore there is some exchange of the internal K for external Na but, as the membrane is mainly selective to K, the resting potential is still negative inside and its value can be approximated by the Goldman-Hodgkin and Katz equation [22]. To maintain the gradients in the presence of these fluxes, the Na/K pump (violet) transports Na and K against their gradients using the energy from ATP hydrolysis

The molecular basis of conduction and selectivity. It is clear from the above discussion that the ability of an ion channel to discriminate between different ionic species (selectivity) is a fundamental property that allows multiple cells functions. In fact ions channels are loosely classified according to their ionic selectivity. The most important players are cationic selective or anionic selective channels with a few examples of channels that have almost no selectivity. How is selectivity implemented in ion channels has been a question that has been asked using electrophysiological techniques in combination with site directed mutagenesis but the real breakthrough did not occur until the crystal structure of KcsA channel was unveiled [5]. KcsA is a bacterial channel that is K+ selective and is made of four identical subunits each having two transmembrane helices organized around a central conducting pore (see Fig. 1.1). This basic pore structure has been found in several other K+ channels that have been crystallized, including the voltage-gated channels Kv1.2 and its chimera with Kv2.1 (Fig. 1.3). The central pore has an intracellular region lined by the inner helices and an extracellular region that is formed by a reentrant amino acid loop where all the backbone carbonyls point toward the pore lumen. This region has been demonstrated to be the seat of K+ selectivity in what

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Fig. 1.3 Bird’s eye view of a Kv channel from the intracellular side from the crystal structure of a chimera of Kv1.2 and Kv2.1 [12]. Subunits are color coded. The region enclosed in the circle is the pore region that shows a K+ ion in the center. The inner helices are in the open state, broken at the PVP motif. The channel is expected to be in the inactivated state because it has been depolarized for a long time. The helices outside the circle form the voltage sensor

is called the selectivity filter. The carbonyls are at the correct distance to replace the water of hydration of the K+ ions (see Fig. 1.3) with almost no change in free energy. Therefore conduction occurs after the K+ ion loose its hydration shell and gets ‘hydrated’ by the backbone carbonyls of the pore while progressing from one carbonyl site to the next. With the atomic structure it has been possible to compute the flow of potassium through the KcsA channel [6] giving a physical representation of the transport through the pore as a multisite jumping process that reproduces the unidirectional flux exponent found experimentally [7]. The question of how the pore can select K against Na has been explained as a consequence of the different ionic radii of Na and K. As the K ionic radius is a perfect fit in the carbonyl cage, the smaller Na radius would not fit as well and it would be excluded from the permeation pathway. The problem with this notion is that due to thermal vibration one would expect that the carbonyl cage could get smaller to accommodate the Na+ ion. However, this does not occur because the carbonyl dipole moment repulsion prevents them to become closer to each other making the radius-based exclusion hypothesis plausible [8]. The question of how selectivity is achieved in voltage gated Na+ channels has not been answered at the same level because there is no crystal structure available but comparison of the amino acid sequences of K+ and Na+ channels indicate the importance of two negatively charged residues (aspartate and glutamate) that change the local electrostatics favoring Na+ over K+ . In the case of the voltage-gated Ca2+ channels there are four negatively charged residues, as expected by the increase in the positive charge of the Ca2+ ion with respect to Na+ . Multiple proposals to explain selectivity of Ca2+ channels have been made taking in account the negatively

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charged amino acids in the pore [9] and using the K+ channel structure as a basis but without a crystal structure they must be considered as models. However, it is important to note that in fact just the presence of the negative charges and how the ions are crowded in the pore are enough to explain Ca2+ selectivity [10]. KcsA has also been important in understanding the molecular basis of gating. The four inner helices cross each other blocking the access of ions to the pore in the closed state. The channel becomes conducting when these helices break at a level of a glycine residue in the helix allowing a rotation while at the same time all four helices spread apart opening the passage of the ions [11]. The probability of going to the open state is increased by lowering the internal pH, making this channel a pHgated channel. Similar channels that are also gated by pH in a more narrow range exist in eukaryotic cells and are important in maintaining resting potential. In the case of the voltage-gated K+ channel, the inner helices of the pore bend in the PVP motif [12]. Recently, it has been found that the bundle crossing of the inner helices is not the only gate but that the selectivity filter also acts as a gate [13]. This means that the pore has two gates in series and conduction will occur only when both gates are open. The selectivity filter gate explains a phenomenon called slow inactivation (the channel stops conducting when it has been activated to open for a long time) that occurs in most of the voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels. When the diameter of the conducting pore is larger, the selectivity is decreased and this is expected when the pore is central of an increasing number of subunits. This is the case of the ligand gated activated channels such as the well studied acetylcholine receptor that are made of five subunits surrounding a central pore. These channels do not select well between Na+ and K+ ions and the larger sized pore is confirmed in the available structures [14]. An even larger increase of the number of subunits decreases selectivity even more as has been shown for the stretch activated channels MscL and MscS that have a central pore surrounded by five and seven subunits respectively. Asymmetry is also possible. The prototype of the anion channel is the Cl– channel that in fact is a family compose of several members. In this case the pore is not a central cavity surrounded by several subunits but is a tortuous channel lined by multiple helices of an extremely complex structure that forms a dimer with one of these pores in each subunit [15]. A complication has arisen in the interpretation of conduction based on the crystal structure because it was found that the protein that was crystallized is not a channel but a transporter where Cl– is simultaneously moved with protons [16]. The studies been carried out presently with Cl– channels and their relation to the structure are of great interest because they start to blur the line that separates channels and transporters and may help to understand both types of membrane conductances at a detailed atomic level. The proton channel [17] is another example of a pore that is not formed by the association of subunits of domains around a central region. This channel is a dimer [18] but it seems that each monomer contains its own pore. Different to the case of Na+ , K+ and Ca2+ channels, the central conducting pore structure is not found in the proton channel although it has all four transmembrane segments that form the voltage sensor of voltage gated channels. The actual pathway for the translocation

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of the protons has not been identified but a possibility is that it is formed by the sensor itself as it was found in a mutated voltage sensor of the Shaker K+ channel [19]. Relation to synthetic nanotubes. One of the main challenges facing the understanding of biological ion channels is the correlation of structure and function at the atomic level. This has only been possible in a very limited number of cases such as the K+ selectivity in KcsA. One obstacle is the determination of the threedimensional structure of ion channels because membrane proteins are more difficult to obtain in crystal form. But even when this obstacle is overcome, the structure obtained by solving three dimensional crystals is of one particular state of the channel and in an environment that does not resemble their native surrounding: the lipid bilayer. By having a better knowledge of the structures these problems are decreased in the case of synthetic nanotubes and the correlation of their structure with their function can also be expanded by molecular dynamics. The similarities of ion channels with nanotubes (voltage-gated ion channels are molecular transistors; ions channels are selective) should help in elucidating the basic mechanisms underlying their function. But there is another aspect where the synergism of simultaneous research on biological ion channels and synthetic nanotubes can be extremely productive. Many ion channels are very selective and also respond to nanomolar amounts of specific transmitters or toxins making them excellent nanoprobes. By combining our knowledge of how the biological ion channels acts as probes and the powerful techniques for synthesis of nanotubes we should be able to build better and more robust chemical and biological probes that could be used in health care and chemical detection. Acknowledgments Many thanks to Dr. R. Latorre for reading the manuscript. Supported by NIH grant GM030376.

References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.

F. Bezanilla, Neuron 60 (3), 456 (2008). K.S. Cole, H.J. Curtis, The Journal of General Physiology 22, 649 (1939). A.L. Hodgkin, A.F. Huxley, The Journal of Physiology 117 (4), 500 (1952). G. Ehrenstein, R. Blumenthal, R. Latorre et al., The Journal of General Physiology 63 (6), 707 (1974); E. Neher and B. Sakmann, Nature 260 (5554), 799 (1976). D.A. Doyle, J. Morais Cabral, R.A. Pfuetzner et al., Science (New York, NY) 280 (5360), 69 (1998). S. Berneche, B. Roux, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 100 (15), 8644 (2003). A.L. Hodgkin, R.D. Keynes, The Journal of Physiology 128 (1), 61 (1955). S.Y. Noskov, S. Berneche, B. Roux, Nature 431 (7010), 830 (2004). W.A. Sather, E.W. McCleskey, Annual Review of Physiology 65, 133 (2003). D. Boda, M. Valisko, D. Henderson et al., The Journal of General Physiology 133, 497 (2009). Y. Jiang, A. Lee, J. Chen et al., Nature 417 (6888), 515 (2002); E. Perozo, D.M. Cortes, and L.G. Cuello, Science (New York, NY) 285 (5424), 73 (1999). S.B. Long, X. Tao, E.B. Campbell et al., Nature 450 (7168), 376 (2007). J.F. Cordero-Morales, V. Jogini, A. Lewis et al., Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 14 (11), 1062 (2007).

1


9

14. R.J. Hilf, R. Dutzler, Nature 452 (7185), 375 (2008); N. Unwin, J Mol Biol 346 (4), 967 (2005). 15. R. Dutzler, E.B. Campbell, M. Cadene et al., Nature 415 (6869), 287 (2002). 16. C. Miller, Nature 440 (7083), 484 (2006). 17. I.S. Ramsey, M.M. Moran, J.A. Chong et al., Nature 440 (7088), 1213 (2006); M. Sasaki, M. Takagi, and Y. Okamura, Science (New York, NY) 312 (5773), 589 (2006). 18. H.P. Koch, T. Kurokawa, Y. Okochi et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105 (26), 9111 (2008). 19. D.M. Starace, F. Bezanilla, Nature 427 (6974), 548 (2004); F.V. Campos, B. Chanda, B. Roux, and F. Bezanilla, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 104, 7904 (2007). 20. S. Uysal, V. Vasquez, V. Tereshko et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 106 (16), 6644 (2009). 21. L. Song, M.R. Hobaugh, C. Shustak et al., Science (New York, NY) 274 (5294), 1859 (1996). 22. B. Hille, Ion channels of excitable membranes, 3rd ed. (Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, 2001).

Chapter 2

Gramicidin Channels as Cation Nanotubes Roger E. Koeppe II, Sigrid E. Schmutzer, and Olaf S. Andersen

Abstract The linear gramicidins constitute a family of peptide antibiotics produced by the soil bacterium Bacillus brevis. The first antibiotics to be used in clinical practice, the linear gramicidins exert their antibacterial activity by forming bilayer-spanning channels that increase the monovalent cation permeability of target bacterial plasma membranes. Gramicidin channels are synthesized by nonribosomal peptide synthesis on large protein complexes and contain both D- and L-amino acid residues; they were the first channels of known chemical composition to be studied. The channels effectively serve as cation-selective organic nanotubes that span lipid bilayer membranes and provide a basis for examining many aspects of ion-channel function and channel-lipid bilayer interactions. The nanotube properties can be tuned by means of mutations or chemical changes to the subunit architecture, as well as by altering the channels’ bilayer environment (e.g., the bilayer thickness). Indeed, many analogue sequences within the extended peptide family have been prepared by semi-synthesis or total synthesis. Diverse applications of gramicidin channels have enhanced our understanding of the microphysics of ion permeation, lipid-protein interactions and membrane protein function.

2.1 Introduction The linear gramicidins constitute a family of peptide antibiotics produced by the soil bacterium Bacillus brevis [1, 2]. Analogue sequences within the extended peptide family also can be prepared by semi-synthesis or total synthesis [3–6]. The linear gramicidins were the first antibiotics to be used in clinical practice [7]. They exert their antibacterial activity by forming bilayer-spanning channels [8] that increase the monovalent cation permeability of the target bacterial plasma membranes [9]. Among the ion-selective channels that span lipid bilayer membranes, gramicidin channels can be considered as robust organic nanotubes. The linear gramicidins are peptides containing both D- and L-amino acids that are linked in specific sequences within bacteria such as Bacillus brevis by means of a non-ribosomal synthesis in which the sequence is specified by the order of the of the domains that couple R.E. Koeppe II (B) Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA e-mail: [email protected]


11

12

R.E. Koeppe II et al.

Fig. 2.1 Amino acid sequence of gramicidin A, the primary linear gramicidin produced by the soil bacterium Bacillus brevis. The N-terminal is blocked with a formyl group; the C-terminal is blocked with an ethanolamide group. Because the sequence strictly alternates between residues of L- and D-chirality, with Gly2 considered as an “honorary” D-residue, the sequence can fold to accommodate a β-helical fold, The four tryptophans at positions 9, 11, 13 and 15 serve as “anchors” at the membrane/water interface to orient the respective subunits of a bilayer-spanning dimeric channel

amino acids to the nascent chain [10, 11]. The prototypical member of the gramicidin family is gramicidin A (“gA”), whose sequence includes glycine-2 (which is achiral) and otherwise all D-amino acids at the even-numbered sequence positions, interspersed between all L-amino acids at the odd-numbered sequence positions (Fig. 2.1). The strictly alternation between residues of L and D chirality confers resistance to proteases and allows the native channel structure to fold as a helix with a secondary structure similar to β-sheets, in which the side chains are on the outside of the helix and the peptide backbone lines the ion permeable pore. The N-formyl blocking group of gramicidin A is added biosynthetically [10] and is required for channel activity [12]. By contrast, the C-aminoethanol blocking group, which derives biosynthetically from glycine, can be modified rather extensively with retention of channel activity [13–17]. In lipid bilayer membranes of appropriate thickness, namely those whose phospholipid acyl chains contain 12–18 carbons, the linear gramicidins fold into single-stranded dimeric membrane-spanning channels. In these channels, the formyl-L-valines meet at the bilayer center and the Trp indole rings anchor the subunits to the respective membrane/water interfaces (Fig. 2.2). The channel lumen is about 0.4 nm in diameter and permits the single-file passage of water molecules and alkali cations [18]. Anions are rejected because the peptide backbone residues do not solvate anions well, as can be deduced from bulk phase free energies of transfer [19] and computational studies on gA channel models [20]. Divalent cations are rejected because the electrostatic barrier for ion entry into the pore becomes forbidding, e.g. [21]. When the Trp interfacial interactions are broken or stressed – namely in organic solvents [22], or in thin or very thick membranes (those whose lipid acyl chains have less than 10 or more than 20 more carbons) [23, 24], or by selected substitution of Trp residues by less polar/amphiphilic residues [25] – the gramicidin dimer refolds away from the single-stranded, functional channel structure into alternative double-stranded dimer conformations (Fig. 2.3) [26], All of the folded dimers are β-helices, with a central backbone, with side chains projecting to the outside [26, 27], as depicted for the single-stranded dimeric “nanotube” in Fig. 2.2 and the double-stranded structure in Fig. 2.3. Usually the double-stranded conformations (also known at π helices [13]) are inert, i.e. not measurably permeable to

2

Gramicidin Channels as Cation Nanotubes

13

Fig. 2.2 Dimensions of the gramicidin channel, depicted using a CPK model. The calibration arrows represent 2.6 nm (vertical) and 2.0 nm (horizontal). The membrane-spanning channel surrounds a water-filled, cation-selective pore of about 0.4 nm diameter (see also Figs. 2.3, 2.4, and 2.5)

A

B

C

Fig. 2.3 Folding of the gramicidin channel. Side views (upper) and end views (lower) showing: (a) the membrane-spanning channel, β6.3 -helical dimer with 6.3 residues per helical turn; and (b, c) two members of the set of double-stranded dimer conformations that are observed in organic solvents. Formyl oxygens are red and Trp indole NH groups blue. A water molecule is shown for reference. Structures a and b each enclose a pore of about 0.4 nm diameter, whereas structure c does not

14


Fig. 2.4 Tryptophan anchoring of the gramicidin channel. The Trp indoles rings (“W” in the upper cartoon) anchor each subunit of the membrane-spanning, cation-conducting channel to its respective membrane/water interface

ions [28], but selected combinations of subunit sequences can sometimes exhibit double-stranded channel activity [29, 30]. In the single-stranded channel conformation, the tryptophans of each gramicidin subunit serve as anchors to the membrane/water interface (Fig. 2.4), holding each respective subunit within the lipid leaflet on the side of the membrane to which it was added [31]. In the interfacial attachment-stabilized conformation, the folded β-helical backbone surrounds a pore of about 4 Å, allowing for the single-file transport of monovalent cations and water molecules (Figs. 2.3 and 2.4) [32]. Gramicidin channels have served as prototypical channels in the development of many physical approaches toward understanding the structure and function of membrane proteins [33]. The main physical approaches have included: (a) single-channel analysis using, e.g., the bilayer punch (“patch clamp”) method [34, 35], (b) circular dichroism (CD) spectrosopy to detect the channel’s secondary structure [22], (c) size-exclusion chromatography [25, 36] to distinguish weak from strong subunit interactions, (d) fluorescence spectroscopy to assess conformational preference and tryptophan positions and motions [37–39], (e) solution magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy for complete structure determination using detergent-encapsulated (membrane-mimetic) samples [40, 41], and (f) solid-state NMR for complete structure determination using bilayer-incorporated samples [42, 43]. Some of the issues concerning conformational polymorphism and structural heterogeneity have been summarized elsewhere [28, 39, 44]. Although methods for the structural characterization of monomers have remained elusive, an in-plane X-ray scattering study of a gramicidin analogue for which dimer formation is blocked1 has indicated that membrane-incorporated monomers assume a similar β-helical fold as the individual subunits within the native dimeric channels [45]. 1 When

the N-formyl group is replaced by N-t-butoxycarbonyl, the dimer/monomer equilibrium is shifted by ∼10–5 [45].

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15

When considered as cation nanotubes, the canonical single-stranded gramicidin channel can be used in diverse ways to investigate the properties of lipid bilayer membranes as well as the physics of ion transport through narrow tubes. This chapter will address fundamental properties and selected practical applications of these nanotubes which assemble from a pair of head-to-head single-stranded gramicidin molecules. The properties of these peptide nanotubes can be tuned by altering the amino acid side chains [46]. Furthermore, the two subunits that compose a given nanotube can be different (in heterodimers) or identical (in homodimers). Each of these assemblies offers advantages for particular applications, and it is possible to measure the energetic consequences of altering the amino acid sequence at the subunit interface.

2.2 Tuning the Channel Properties Cation-conducting gramicidin channels assemble in lipid bilayer membranes when subunits from opposing bilayer leaflets diffuse laterally, to “line up” and then dimerize; the bilayer-spanning channels are stabilized by six intermolecular hydrogen bonds [31]. Dimer formation (and disappearance) is detected as a step change in the current across a high-resistance “black” lipid2 membrane (Fig. 2.5) [8, 35]. That is, gramicidin channels do not “open” and “close” – except in a few special

Fig. 2.5 Formation of a gramicidin channel. When subunits in opposing lipid leaflets dimerize, the dimer is stabilized by six hydrogen bonds, and a step change in the transmembrane current can be observed. The step size is typically about 3 pA for Na+ or about 10 pA for Cs+ permeation through a channel of gramicidin A (1.0 M salt, diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine/n-decane bilayers, 200 mV applied potential, 25◦ C). The channel lifetime is typically about 1 s. See also Figs. 2.7 and 2.9

2A

“black” lipid membrane or “bilayer” lipid membrane (“BLM”) is only one lipid bilayer thick and is optically black [80].

16


cases [47, 48] – but rather appear and disappear by a process of transmembrane association and dissociation. In the right-handed β-helical channel, the six hydrogen bonds link the carbonyl oxygens of L-residues 1, 3 and 5 to the backbone NH groups of L-residues 5, 3 and 1 on the respective subunits [49]. This hydrogen-bonded subunit arrangement was first proposed by Urry [27], albeit for a left-handed channel. The right-handed helix sense was established using magnetic resonance (NMR) methods [40, 50, 51]. Gramicidin channels are remarkably conductive. Even though the small pore radius restricts ions and water to move in single file [32, 52], the rate of ion movement through a channel is rapid: in 1.0 M NaCl the single-channel conductance is only about fivefold less than would be predicted for free diffusion through a 2.6 × 0.4 nm pore (Fig. 2.2) that offers no “excess” resistance [53]. Because gramicidin channels are seemingly ideally selective for monovalent cations [54], single-channel measurements provide direct information about the net cation flux through the channel. Gramicidin channels therefore are not just water-filled pores. Favorable short-range ion-channel interactions effectively compensate for the electrostatic barrier for ion movement through the low-dielectric bilayer core. Like other membrane-spanning ion channels, gramicidin channels catalyze ion movement across a lipid bilayer by providing a reaction path that obviates the ion’s passage through the lipid bilayer hydrophobic core per se. For this reason, gramicidin channels (and other ion channels) belong to a special class of enzymes in which no covalent bonds are made or broken during the catalytic cycle. Both the single-channel conductance and the mean channel lifetime of gramicidin channels can be regulated by engineered changes in the amino acid sequence [46]. A. Conductance: The cation conductance of gramicidin channels is sensitive to the introduction of many different side chains into the amino acid sequence (Fig. 2.6). For example, the substitution of amino acids with more polar sulfuror fluorine-containing polar side chains for the hydrophobic valine at position one decreases the single-channel conductance. Notably, substituting trifluorovaline at position one alters the ion selectivity, as this substitution causes a 3-fold reduction in current in the presence of 1.0 M CsCl but a 6-fold reduction for 1.0 M NaCl3 [55]. Replacing any of the four tryptophan indole dipoles with a nonpolar (and non-dipolar) side chain, such as Phe, decreases the single-channel conductance by about 25% [56] – with the deeper substitutions causing the larger conductance changes. Conversely, enhancing the Trp dipole by 5-fluorination will increase the conductance by about 20% [57]; in this instance through-space ion/5-F-Trp dipole interactions over a distance of several nm serve to attract cations toward the channel entrance and lower the energy barrier for ions to pass the bilayer center [58]. Even the aliphatic “spacer” residues between the tryptophans are important, as replacing

3 Gramicidin

A channels are about 3-fold selective for K+ , Rb+ or Cs+ over Na+ [54]. Amino acid substitutions can serve to “tune” this cation selectivity [55]. Experiments with different cations are chosen for mechanistic studies.

2


17

Fig. 2.6 Selected side chains of amino acids that have been introduced into gramicidin channels

D-Leu10,12,14 by D-Ile10,12,14 or D-Ala10,12,14 decreases the single-channel conductance for 1.0 M CsCl by 25–33% [59]. Furthermore, the cation conductance can be tuned by more subtle alterations in the amino acid sequence [49, 55]. These conductance changes occur within the framework provided by the β-helical fold of the membrane-spanning channel, which depends on maintaining the pattern of alternating residues of L- and D-chirality within the gramicidin channel sequence [4, 47, 57, 60]. To illustrate how subtle changes can modulate channel function, Fig. 2.7 shows the influence of glycine and alanine replacements at positions 1 and 2 on the properties of gramicidin channels [49]. [Gly1 -Gly2 ]gA channels conduct, with a single-channel current of about 2 pA in the presence of 1.0 M NaCl (and 200 mV applied potential), and exhibit a mean channel lifetime of about 70 ms (Fig. 2.7a, b). Replacing Gly1 by Ala1 causes an approximate doubling of the Na+ current and a 2.5-fold increase in lifetime, whereas a Gly→Ala substitution at position 2 causes no change in the single-channel current but a >10-fold increase in the lifetime (Fig. 2.7c, d). Similar changes in single-channel lifetimes are observed when Cs+ is the permeant ion, though the current changes are less [49]. Remarkably, the effects of alanines on the channels’ ion permeability and lifetimes at the two positions are largely uncoupled. B. Channel lifetimes: As noted above, gramicidin channel lifetimes also are sensitive to the nanotube’s amino acid sequence and to the overall channel length, specifically how well the length of the channel’s hydrophobic exterior matches the thickness of the host lipid bilayer (Fig. 2.8), a concept known as hydrophobic matching [61, 62]. The results shown in Fig. 2.8 illustrate that neither the absolute tube length nor the absolute lipid bilayer thickness, but rather their difference, regulates

18

R.E. Koeppe II et al. 1

Gly1-Gly2 1

Ala1-Gly2

0

0

1

2

Gly1-DAla2 1 0

Ala1-DAla2 0

Fig. 2.7 Examples of single-channel current transitions that accompany the dimerization of gramicidin subunits that have glycine or alanine at positions one and two. Current level “1” or “2” denotes one or two conducting channels, whereas level “0” denotes the baseline when there are zero conducting channels. Diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine/n-decane bilayers, 1.0 M NaCl, 200 mV applied potential, 25◦ C. Modified from [49]

Fig. 2.8 Effect of a bilayer-channel hydrophobic mismatch on gramicidin channel lifetimes. (a) Gramicidin channels form by means of transmembrane dimerization of nonconducting subunits (cf. Fig. 2.5), which is observable as discrete current transition between two levels: 0, in which there is no conducting channel, and 1, in which there is one conducting channel. Because channel formation causes a local bilayer thinning, the average channel lifetimes vary as a function of the hydrophobic mismatch. (b) Gramicidin channel lifetimes as a function of a hydrophobic mismatch parameter (NC − NAA ), where NC denotes the number of carbon atoms in the acyl chains of the bilayer-forming lipids (monounsaturated phosphatidylcholines), and NAA denotes the number of amino acids in one gramicidin subunit. The squares ( ) denote experiments in which NAA was varied while the lipid acyl chains had 16 carbons. The triangles () denote experiments in which NC was varied at constant NAA of 15 amino acids per subunit

2


Table 2.1 Variation of gramicidin channel lifetimes as function of the nanotube amino acid sequencea

19

Residue 1

Residue 2

Val Norval Leu Norleu Met F3 -Val F6 -Val Phe

Gly Gly Gly Gly Gly Gly Gly Gly

Gly Ala Gly Ala

Gly Gly D-Ala D-Ala

Dimer lifetime (ms) 810 220 210 280 200 180 50 770 70 190 1,100 2,200

a Data

from [55, 65] and [49]. Experimental conditions: 1.0 M NaCl, diphytanoylphosphatidyl choline/n-decane, 200 mV, 25◦ C. Day-to-day variations of ±10% are observed for the mean channel lifetimes [65]. Residues 1 and 2 are located at the subunit/subunit junction in a gramicidin dimer (Fig. 2.2). Channel lifetimes also vary significantly if the tryptophans near the C-terminal are substituted [56, 57]. These tryptophans are located away from the subunit junction but are critical anchors of the channel subunits to the bilayer/electrolyte interface [31] and therefore also influence channel lifetimes, often in highly dramatic ways [56].

the channel lifetime. The concept holds true regardless of whether the tube length is varied within a fixed bilayer or, conversely, a fixed-length tube is examined in bilayers of different thicknesses (Fig. 2.8b) [63]. Substitutions in the amino acid sequence also influence the channel lifetime. For example, polar residues at position one or two – at the subunit interface and near the bilayer center – decrease the channel lifetime (Table 2.1). Remarkably, branched hydrocarbon side chains (Val, Phe) confer significantly longer lifetimes than do straight side chains (Norval, Norleu, Met). Furthermore, D-Ala2 yields significantly longer channel lifetimes than does Gly2 , independent of the identity of residue one (Table 2.1) [49]. Away from the subunit interface, tryptophans anchor the subunits to the respective membrane water interfaces. Substituting one or more of the Trp indole rings by phenylalanine or glycine, and even varying the intervening “spacer” residues, also have dramatic effects on the channel lifetime [56, 59, 64].

2.3 Applications of Heterodimers Heterodimer experiments involve the random and independent associations of subunits when two chemically different gramicidin subunits are added to the same lipid bilayer membrane (Fig. 2.9). It thus becomes possible to measure the energetics of different subunit combinations [65, 66]. In varying experimental protocols, the

20


Fig. 2.9 Heterodimer formation. When two chemically different gramicidin subunits A and B are added to both sides of a bilayer, four types of channels may be able to assemble

respective subunits can be added to the same unique side of a membrane, to different sides, or to both sides. The Trp-anchored single-stranded subunits that constitute standard gramicidin channels tend to remain within the leaflet on the side of the membrane to which they are added initially [31]. This “anchoring” by the Trp indole rings at the membrane/water interface is effective for at least 30 min after single-sided addition of gramicidin subunits to only one side of a lipid bilayer membrane [31], meaning that gramicidin channels usually are observed only after adding gramicidins to both sides of a bilayer. If one or more of the Trp side chains are progressively substituted by other aromatic rings such as Phe, naphthyl or 1-Me-indole, the modified gramicidins have an increased probability of forming channels when added to only one side of the bilayer indicating that individual subunits can more easily cross the membrane [25, 67]. In contrast to the canonical single-stranded channels, the double-stranded channels that are formed only in rare cases tend to assemble when both subunits come from the same side of the bilayer membrane [24, 30]. Figure 2.10 shows results from a heterodimer experiment with single-stranded subunits. In such an experiment, subunits A and B (sequence analogues of gramicidin, in this case [Ala1 -D-Ala2 ]gA and gA, respectively) were added to both sides of a planar lipid bilayer. The single-channel current trace (top of Fig. 2.10) shows current steps resulting from the formation of homodimeric AA and BB channels, and heterodimeric (or hybrid) channels. The heterodimeric channels will exist in two different orientations (relative to the applied potential), one in which the current is in the A→B direction and one in which the current is in the B→A direction. These two orientations are, in principle, distinguishable because the potential of mean force for ion movement will differ for the two channel orientations [68]. In this case, however, the hybrid channel orientation does not influence the channel properties because the A→B and B→A channels contribute to the same peak – of intermediate magnitude – in the current transition amplitude histogram (middle of

2


21

Fig. 2.10 Examples of heterodimeric channels. From top to bottom, the figure depicts a singlechannel current trace, a current transition amplitude histogram, and a lifetime survivor plot that depicts the probability of channel disappearance as a function of time after formation. In this example, the heterodimers A→B and B→A exhibit nearly identical single-channel currents (∗ ) and lifetimes (∗ ) which, in both cases, are intermediate between the corresponding properties of the homodimeric AA and BB channels. Subunit A is [Ala1 -D-Ala2 ]gA; subunit B is gA. Diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine/n-decane bilayers, 1.0 M CsCl, 200 mV applied potential, 25◦ C. Modified from [49]

Fig. 2.10). (The case where the two orientations can be distinguished will be illustrated below.) The hybrid channels also exhibit a single exponential probability of dissociating and a mean channel lifetime that is intermediate between those of the respective homodimers in a channel lifetime histogram or survivor plot (∗ in lower section of Fig. 2.10). Heterodimer experiments reveal the (energetic) consequences of interrupting the pattern of alternating L- and D-residues that constitute the gramicidin channel backbone. For example, the pattern can be interrupted by deletion or insertion of one

22


Fig. 2.11 Missing residue at the subunit interface of a gramicidin channel. Adjacent to Gly2 (black in structure a; ∗ in net diagram b), a residue can be deleted from only one subunit of a gramicidin channel (with “repair” of the N-formyl group). The residue deletion leaves a defect in the wall of the channel and lowers the mean lifetime of the heterodimeric channel, from which one can deduce that the “gap” incurs an energetic cost of about 10 kJ mol–1 [66]

residue, or by insertion of extra carbon atoms (CH2 groups) into the backbone. If a single residue is deleted from only one subunit of a gramicidin channel, but the crucial N-formyl groups are retained on both subunits (Fig. 2.11), then there remains an effective “gap” or defect in the wall of the channel. As a consequence, the hybrid channel conductances and lifetimes are no longer intermediate between those of the respective homodimeric channels. Instead of the situation depicted in Fig. 2.10, the hybrid channels exhibit much lower single-channel currents and much shorter mean channel lifetimes than either of the corresponding homodimers (c.f. figures 3 and 4 in [66]). The consequence is that, when two gramicidin subunits differ in length by ± one residue, the channel’s backbone structure and helix sense are not affected, but the resulting hybrid channels are destabilized by ∼10 kJ mol–1 [66]. The destabilization of the heterodimeric nanotube is caused by the de facto “gap” – and loss of one intersubunit hydrogen bond – in the peptide backbone at the junction between the two subunits. This “missing residue” or “gap” analysis gives remarkably consistent results, regardless of whether a residue is added or removed from the N-terminal of gramicidin. (The symmetry of a dimer dictates that the initial residues where the respective subunits meet each other should be of the same chirality, while the β-helical fold dictates that residue chirality should alternate thereafter.) This consistency suggests that the transition state for dimer dissociation is reached when two hydrogen bonds are broken, when the subunits move apart in a rotating/sliding motion [66, 69, 70]. Gramicidin channels also can be used to examine general questions relating to the structural and functional consequences of inserting non-genetic amino acids into the amino acid sequence of a well-folded structure. What are the consequences of

2


23

Fig. 2.12 Peptide backbone modification at the subunit interface of a gramicidin channel. Adjacent to Gly2 (black in structure a; ∗ in net diagram b), one (or two) extra CH2 group(s) can be inserted into the backbone of a gramicidin channel. See text for details

inserting “extra” atoms into the channel backbone structure? Figure 2.12 illustrates the concept, with Gly2 shown in black in panel A. Next to the backbone CH2 of Gly2 (∗ in Fig. 2.12b), we have incorporated one or two extra CH2 groups. Remarkably, the extra methylene groups in the backbone of the nanotube are well tolerated, such that the subunits retain the ability to assemble into conducting channels. Figure 2.13

Fig. 2.13 Current reduction due to extra methylene groups at the subunit interface in a gramicidin channel. Subunits A, B and C have 0, 1, or 2 extra –CH2 – groups, respectively, inserted next to the –Cα H2 – of Gly2 in the native gramicidin sequence. Left: single-channel current transitions for mixtures of A/B subunits (upper) or A/C subunits (lower). Right: the respective current transition histograms. In the upper histogram AA homodimers and AB heterodimers exhibit distinct currents, whereas the BB homodimers and BA heterodimers exhibit the same average current (∗∗ → peak). In the lower histogram, AA and CC homodimers exhibit distinctive high and low currents, while the oppositely oriented AC and CA heterodimers exhibit the same intermediate current (∗ peak). Experimental conditions: 1.0 M CsCl, diphytanoylphosphatidyl choline/n-decane, 200 mV, 25◦ C

24


illustrates that one extra CH2 group (subunit B; upper panels) and even two extra CH2 groups (subunit C; lower panels) still permit conducting channels to assemble. Interestingly, when only one extra CH2 is present in only one subunit, the hybrid channel orientation – B→A or A→B – makes a difference, such that the current is different in the two directions. In one of the orientations, the current through the hybrid channel is indistinguishable from the current through the symmetric BB channels (peak ∗∗ in upper right of Fig. 2.13). By contrast, the heterodimers in which one subunit incorporates two extra CH2 groups exhibit no such asymmetry, and the currents through the CA and AC channels are indistinguishable (peak ∗ in lower right of Fig. 2.13).

2.4 Double-Barreled Nanotubes As noted above, gramicidin channel formation is associated with a local bilayer deformation that varies with the (hydrophobic) mismatch between the bilayer thickness and channel length (see above). Further information about the importance of hydrophobic mismatch can be gained by forming covalent crosslinks between adjacent subunits in a bilayer leaflet, such that double-barreled channels may assemble [71]. Figure 2.14 illustrates the result of adding such tandem subunits – linked at their C-terminals, using a flexible hydrophilic linker that extends from the membrane/water interface out into the aqueous solution. When a channel forms, one first observes some initial “bursting” activity (red ellipse in Fig. 2.14), as the first barrel makes several apparent attempts to open, and then finally succeeds. Almost concerted with the ultimate opening of barrel one – or within a few milliseconds thereafter [71] – one observes that a second barrel also is conducting a cation current. The opening of the second barrel occurs without a prelude of bursting activity and is likely cooperative with the opening/stabilization of the first barrel. Together, the double-barreled assembly remains open for, typically, minutes

Fig. 2.14 Formation of a double-barreled gramicidin channel. Single-channel current trace obtained with tandem gramicidin subunits that are pairwise linked at the C-terminals. Channel formation is preceded by bursting channel activity (dotted ellipse), and is very quickly followed by an apparently concerted or cooperative formation of the second barrel of a double-barreled gramicidin channel. The double-barreled ensemble then remains stable for many tens of seconds (or even minutes). For further details, see Goforth et al. [71] Diphytanoylphosphatidylcholine/n-decane bilayers, 1.0 M CsCl, 200 mV applied potential, 25◦ C

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25

(Fig. 2.14), much longer than the ∼0.8 s lifetimes of standard gramicidin channels having unlinked subunits. The tandem dimers are stabilized some 100,000-fold relative to two independent channels [71]. The decisive results with the double-barreled channels suggest strongly that there indeed is a bilayer deformation energy is associated with gramicidin channel formation (because the channel length is somewhat less than the bilayer thickness). One infers that the bulk of the energy cost is associated with the formation of the first barrel (witness the associated bursting behavior), that the cost is much less for forming the second barrel, and that the double-barreled assembly is remarkably stable within the lipid bilayer membrane [71].

2.5 Energetics of Channel-Bilayer Hydrophobic Coupling The properties of the double-barreled nanotubes provide additional experimental evidence for the notion of an energetic coupling between gramicidin channel formation and lipid bilayer deformation [69, 72–74]. Further experiments have been designed to measure the actual deformation energy, or rather changes in bilayer deformation energy. These types of experiments typically employ gramicidin subunits of different lengths [75]. A design concept is illustrated in Fig. 2.15. When the hydrophobic length (l) of a bilayer-spanning gramicidin nanotube differs from the average thickness (d0 ) of the host bilayer (Fig. 2.15), the bilayer thickness will vary locally in the vicinity of the channel dimer in order to “match” the length of the nanotube’s hydrophobic exterior to the thickness of the bilayer hydrophobic core. Such bilayer deformations incur an energetic cost, the bilayer deformation energy (G0def ), which will vary as a function of the tube shape, the inclusion/bilayer hydrophobic mismatch (d0 –l), the lipid bilayer elastic properties and the lipid intrinsic curvature [72, 73, 76, 77]. To explore these issues further, we have developed single-molecule methods to measure G0def and to probe changes in bilayer elastic properties using gramicidins as molecular force transducers [75]. The basis for these experiments is to construct nanotubes of different lengths by using gramicidin subunits of different lengths. Three fundamental approaches to measuring the deformation energy include: first, measurements of changes in channel lifetimes and appearance rates as the lipid bilayer thickness or channel length are varied; second, measurements of the equilibrium distribution among channels of different lengths, formed by homoand heterodimers between gramicidin subunits of different lengths; and third, measurements of the ratio of the appearance rates of heterodimer channels relative to parent homodimer channels formed by gramicidin subunits of different lengths [75]. Each of these methods contributes an independent measure of the bilayer deformation energy. The best estimates to date (for hydrocarbon-containing bilayers) are 10–20 kJ mol–1 nm–2 for monoglyceride-based bilayers and 35–45 kJ mol–1 nm–2 for phosphatidylcholine-based bilayers [69, 75].

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Fig. 2.15 Bilayer deformation energy. gA channel formation by the transbilayer dimerization of subunits may incur an energetic cost. When the channel’s hydrophobic length (l) differs from the average thickness of the unperturbed bilayer hydrophobic core (do ), channel formation will be associated with a bilayer deformation [78, 79], due to the compression and bending of the two bilayer leaflets, which is caused by the hydrophobic couple between the bilayer-spanning channel and the host bilayer. Figure from [53]

2.6 Summarizing Perspective Gramicidin channels were the first channels of known chemical composition to be studied [8]. These channels serve as cation-selective nanotubes that span lipid bilayer membranes, and continue to provide a robust basis for examining many different aspects of ion channel function and channel-lipid bilayer interactions [39]. In the present context, the nanotube properties can be tuned by means of mutations or chemical changes to the subunit architecture. Diverse applications of gramicidin channels, in proof-of-principle studies and in their own right, have enhanced our understanding of the microphysics of ion permeation, lipid–protein interactions and membrane protein function. Acknowledgments This work was supported in part by NIH grants GM21342 and RR15569. We thank Denise Greathouse, Gwen Mattice, Robyn Goforth, Haiyan Sun and Claus Nielsen for helpful discussions.

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Chapter 3

Self-Assembled Organic Nanotubes and Their Applications in Nano-Bio Fields Toshimi Shimizu

Abstract We focus on the template-independent self-assembly of organic nanotubes, which are recently breaking new ground every day under the influence of the bloom of carbon nanotube (CNT) researches. In particular, the spontaneous self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules (lipids) into hollow cylindrical tubular architectures is discussed in terms of molecular design, possible formation scheme, dimension control, and potential applications in nano-bio fields. The advanced researches on a variety of self-assembled lipid nanotubes (LNTs), including diacetylenic phospholipid nanotubes (PLNTs), peptide nanotubes (PNTs), glycolipid nanotubes (GLNTs), and molecular graphene-based nanotubes (graphitic nanotubes, GNTs), have been detailed, focusing on current progress and topics on and after 2000. The attempts to use the LNT as a nanocontainer, nanochannel, and nanopipette have also been described to feature the concept of “attoliter chemistry”, which will occur only in a confined liquid nanospace shaped by the LNT hollow cylinder.

Abbreviations CMC CNT DLS DNA Dps FRET GFP GLNT GNT HBC LNT MEMS MLM PLNT

Critical micelle concentration Carbon nanotube Dynamic light scattering Deoxyribonucleic acid DNA-binding protein from starved cells Fluorescence resonance energy transfer Green fluorescence protein Glycolipid nanotube Graphitic nanotube Hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene Lipid nanotube Micro-electro mechanical system Monolayer membrane Phospholipid nanotube

T. Shimizu (B) Nanotube Research Center (NTRC), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8565, Japan e-mail: [email protected]


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PNT RNA SEM TAS TEM Tg–l TMV P

T. Shimizu

Peptide nanotube Ribonucleic acid Scanning electron microscopy Total analysis system Transmission electron microscopy Gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature Tobacco mosaic virus Critical packing parameter

3.1 Introduction The biological structure shaping viruses gives a typical example of well-defined, self-organized products made of naturally-occurring molecular building blocks. In particular, Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), a pathogenic organism of tobacco mosaic diseases, is known to form a hollow cylindrical architecture, in which 2,130 pieces of identical proteins assemble helically around a single chain polymer RNA as a template with a period of 49 proteins/3-turns (Fig. 3.1, left) [1, 2]. The dimensions of TMV, including inner and outer diameters, thickness, and length, can characterize the homogeneous and perfect nanotubular structure of TMV. It should be pointed out that mixing purely isolated TMV proteins with ribonucleic acid (RNA) as a

Fig. 3.1 Comparison of the size dimensions and tubular architectures for TMV and the self-assembled organic nanotubes from a wedge-shaped amphiphile 22(n) [see Fig. 3.4 as to the molecular structure of 22(n)]

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Self-Assembled Organic Nanotubes and Their Applications in Nano-Bio Fields

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template under appropriate conditions can allow the re-self-organization into the intrinsic tubular structure of TMV endowed with an original biological activity [1]. Every structural information to assemble should be installed in advance to each protein molecule as a molecular building block. Besides such self-assembling proteins, certain amphiphilic molecules that were rationally designed have been found to produce tubular structures with well-defined dimensions and morphologies through molecular self-assembly [3–6]. There is no need in this case to use the core materials for exo-templating [6–11], such as hollow-forming fibrous species or RNA, for the preparation of hollow cylindrical organic nanotubes or TMV, respectively. The amphiphilic molecules, once rationally designed as tube-forming compounds, can self-assemble into nanotube architectures with 7–500 nm inner diameters, 10–1,000 nm outer diameters, and few to hundreds μm length, with maximum accuracy and minimum energy [6]. Nowadays, only self-assembly system, independent on the nanoporous template synthesis pioneered by Martin et al. [12–16], enables us to obtain sophisticated organic nanotubes with unsymmetrical inner and outer surfaces covered with different chemical functionalities (Fig. 3.1, right) [17–20]. Here we focus on the spontaneous self-assembly of hollow cylindrical tubular architectures from amphiphilic molecules (abbreviated as lipids hereafter unless specified) in liquid media. In particular, a close relationship between the molecular structures and the resultant self-assembled morphologies of the lipids is discussed as well as current situation for the dimension control of the self-assembled lipid nanotubes (LNTs). We also touch recent topics on intriguing encapsulation properties of the organic nanotubes toward biomacromolecules and nanomaterials more than 10 nm wide [21]. Finally, possible unprecedented applications of the LNTs are described in currently emerging nano-bio fields, benefited from their encapsulation, diffusion, separation, and adsorption capabilities.

3.2 Molecular Building Blocks for Nanotube Formation Here we consider the template-independent formation of discrete organic nanotubes characterized by well-defined dimensions as well as two open ends. Those nanotubes self-assemble from a variety of molecules and produce no bundles or no further organized two-dimensional structures [6, 22]. Molecular building blocks for the self-assembly may be categorized into eight groups in rough view of the formation mechanism and molecular shape of each molecule (Fig. 3.2). The molecular shape, topological arrangement of diverse functionalities, molecular recognition site, and the local environment of solvophilic and solvophobic moieties are responsible for diverse morphologies of nanotube-like assemblies, while involving different types of self-assembling mechanism. In case of cyclic molecules, for example, the molecular architecture itself strictly determines the inner or outer diameters of the resultant nanotubes since the molecular size is less than few nm (Fig. 3.2e) [23–25]. If the cyclic molecules assemble to stack in one-dimensional fashion, the intensity and dimensionality of intermolecular interactions will direct the nanotube length.

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T. Shimizu

Fig. 3.2 Classification of molecular building blocks that self-assemble into discrete organic nanotubes with well-defined dimensions as well as two open ends. (a) Proteins, (b) helical chains, (c) rigid helices, (d) dendrons, (e) rings, (f) block copolymers, (g) general amphiphiles, and (h) wedge-shaped amphiphiles

Main driving forces for the molecular self-assembly in Fig. 3.2 are van der Waals force, hydrogen bonds, coordination bonds, and π–π stacking. Besides natural proteins associated with viruses self-assembly, chemicallyderived synthetic proteins were recently shown to self-assemble into nanometersized tubular structures (Fig. 3.2a) [26, 27]. Partial hydrolysis of the milk protein α-lactalbumin by a protease from Bacillus Licheniformis resulted into protein nanotubes that have potential for use in nanotechnology with both food and non-food applications. Schizophyllan, β-1,3-glucan polysaccharide produces in aqueous solutions a tube-like triple helix structure in induced-fit-type fashion from a random coil state in dimethylsulfoxide (Fig. 3.2b) [28–30]. If one-dimensional guest species, such as carbon nanotube (CNT), a single-chain polymer, or deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), co-exists on self-assembly of schizophyllan, the size for the inner cavity of the triple helix is adjustable to fit the dimension along the short axis of the guest [31–37]. Rigid helical oligomers and polymers can also provide hollow cylindrical structures in their interior regions [38–55]. The rigidity and directionality associated with aromatic rings and/or hydrogen-bond functionalities like an amide group drive the formation of the tube-like architectures. However, the number of repeating units or the degree of polymerization is still not enough to shape the tubes with high-aspect ratios (Fig. 3.2c). On the other hand, cyclic molecules [23–25, 56–61] and panel[62, 63] or fan-like molecules [64–72] form at first cyclic architectures through elaborate complementary hydrogen bonding and the resultant cyclic molecular motifs assemble to grow into tubular structures (Fig. 3.2d, e). Although this ring-to-tube formation scheme appears simple and clear cut, one has to pay detailed and careful attention to molecular design for the self-assembly of organic nanotubes. It is interesting that nature has never adopted the ring-to-tube formation scheme to shape, for example, ion channels [22]. Although each molecular modeling apparently shows a

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definite hollow (Fig. 3.2d, e), there have been few examples that demonstrated the direct evidence for the hollow cylinder structures in a discrete nanotube observed using, for example, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) [73, 74]. Self-assembled polymer nanotubes or LNTs, stabilized by lamellar-bilayer, -monolayer membranes, or hard-core–soft-shell structures, often give flexible and fibrillar nanotubes with the aspect ratios of more than 104 (Fig. 3.2f–h). They can be well dispersed in liquid medium, depending on their surface properties. Hereafter we focus on the LNTs that are recently breaking new ground every day [6, 75–77].

3.3 Formation Scheme of LNTs A variety of formation scheme to produce LNT structures using tube-forming amphiphilic molecules (lipids) as molecular building blocks has been reported so far [6], including chiral molecular [78–81] and packing directed self-assembly [17, 19, 20], polymer self-assembly [82–84], molecular sculpting [60, 85], and templated assembly using a nanopore [12, 13, 15, 16, 86, 87]. The most popular way to yield the LNTs is chiral molecular self-assembly, which starts with the formation of fluid spherical vesicles (or micelles) by a chiral amphiphile and eventually results into solid tubular architectures via solid bilayer helices (Fig. 3.3a) [5, 78, 88–92]. At temperatures above the gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature (Tg–l )

Fig. 3.3 Possible formation scheme of amphiphiles into self-assembled nanotubes. (a) Chiral molecular self-assembly and (b) packing-directed self-assembly. Tg–l means a gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature of each amphiphile

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of the chiral amphiphile, it forms vesicular assemblies. When the hot aqueous solution of the vesicles is allowed to gradually cool to room temperature (generally, T < Tg–l ), the resultant spherical morphologies are converted into helical ribbons consisting of bilayer membranes. Two different types of routes follow the formation of helical ribbons, leading to the nanotube formation [6, 93–96]. One route involves the reduction in the helical pitch length of the ribbon (route A) [90, 97, 98], whereas another route proceeds with widening of the tape width of the ribbon (route B) [89, 99–103]. The latter route has been reported more commonly than the former one. Interestingly, it has also been reported that the addition of cyclodextrin to the vesicles, self-assembled from a dendritic building block with a focal pyrene unit, induces reversible vesicle–nanotube conversion [104]. Worth noticing that both the helical ribbon and nanotube architectures are stable in a solid state only at temperatures below Tg–l of the corresponding amphiphile. Heating the aqueous dispersion of the nanotubes to temperatures above the Tg–l instantly causes morphological conversion from the nanotubes to spheres in a fluid state. Although the mutual conversion between the nanotubes and spheres is reversible, the growth of the nanotubes from the vesicles takes relatively longer time (1 day ∼ few weeks) than the instant conversion from the nanotubes to vesicles. Currently, advanced micromanipulation methodologies, which bridge several spherical vesicles with lipid nanotube networks in a fluid state at temperatures above the Tg–l , have been developed by Tirrel [105] and Orwar [106]. The integrated nanotube–vesicle networks are now gaining much interest in analytical chemistry fields toward single molecule detection [107–110]. The network also contributes to direct transport of membrane vesicles between different, relatively larger mother vesicles [111]. Unlike the conventional chiral self-assembly mentioned above, a new type of self-assembly scheme has recently been found for wedge-shaped amphiphiles possessing two hydrophilic headgroups of different sizes at each end (Fig. 3.3b) [4, 17–20, 112–114]. No chiral morphologies, such as helically twisted or coiled ribbons as intermediates, appear during the course of the self-assembly. The selfassembly completes in a short time (within a day) and in a single step. In general, if the hydrocarbon chain of a desired amphiphile packs in a crystalline state, one cannot predict easily the resultant self-assembled morphologies as well as packing profile of the molecule. Only when the hydrophobic chains of the amphiphiles pack in a fluid state, the well-known structural guideline proposed by Israelachivili is applicable to predict the resultant self-assembled morphologies [6, 115]. In chemistry, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) is defined as the concentration of an amphiphilic component in solution at which the formation of aggregates (micelles, lamellar structures etc.) in the solution is initiated. The geometrical model of the guideline defines the critical packing parameter P = v/(a0 lc ), where v is the volume of the hydrophobic chain of an amphiphile, a0 is the polar head surface area at the CMC of the amphiphile, and lc is the chain length of the amphiphile. Depending on the critical packing parameter (P) of each amphiphilic molecule, spherical micelles (P < 0.33), cylindrical micelles (0.33 < P < 0.5), spherical vesicles (0.5 < P < 1), planar bilayers (P ∼ 1), and reversed micelles (P > 1) will be favored to produce through self-assembly (see the illustration in the reference paper [6]). As described

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later (see the Section 3.7), both the rational molecular design of wedge-shaped amphiphiles and optimized experimental conditions result in the unification of the polymorphism of molecular packing, giving single and suitable molecular packing with parallel arrangement. Those situations can stabilize nanometer-sized tubular architectures [17–19].

3.4 A Variety of LNTs 3.4.1 Diacetylenic Phospholipid Nanotubes (PLNTs) The history of LNTs started with accidental findings during the self-assembly experiment using amphiphilic molecules. At almost same time in 1984, 7 years before the first discovery of CNTs [116], three research groups in Japan and United States encountered independently the formation of tubular assemblies from amphiphilic molecules [88, 89, 91, 92]. In particular, Schnur’s research groups have been studying intensively and extensively the LNTs self-assembled from synthetic diacetylenic phospholipids 1(m,n) (Fig. 3.4) [5, 79, 81, 117]. The most commonly studied lipid 1,2-bis(tricosa-10,12-diynoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocoline 1(8,9) was reported first by Yager and Schoen [91], and is now commercially available. The introduction of a diacetylenic triple bond causes a bent structure into the acyl chain of 1(m,n), imposing a steric hindrance upon the molecules that are packing parallel to each other. Thus, the diacetylenic phospholipids tend to pack at nonzero angle with respect to the nearest neighbors, inducing chiral molecular packing (Fig. 3.5) [79, 118, 119]. Eventually, the generated bilayer membranes start to twist or coil and in some cases they convert into tubular architectures. Polymerizable glycolipids also corroborate the view that the introduction of diacetylenic bonds into n-alkyl chains is effective to form tubular structures [120–124]. In addition to these findings with triple bonds, many examples support that the introduction of unsaturated bonds, including a double bond as well, in the middle of n-alkyl chains is critical for the nanotube formation based on chiral molecular self-assembly [98, 125–127].

3.4.2 Peptide Nanotubes (PNTs) Since the pioneering work for cyclic peptide nanotubes (PNTs) by Ghadiri et al. [23–25, 59, 128, 129], many reports that address the nanotube formation from peptide itself or peptide derivatives are currently arousing considerable interest in the non-CNT world [130–135]. Interestingly, the self-assembly of the Alzheimer’s β-amyloid diphenylalanine motif 2 was found to produce discrete and stiff nanotubes in 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propanol at high concentrations [136]. The biocompatible and water-soluble nanotubes that were developed in this way by Gazit et al. are producible under mild conditions and are inexpensive and easy to manufacture. These benefits allow them to direct the research on PNTs toward the

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H2C OH N

O

P

O

O

(CH2)nCH3

(CH2)m

(CH2)nCH3

CH2

O

O

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H

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Na+ O−

OH

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OH

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2

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H N

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(CH2)n−4 O

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3(n) (n = 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14)

HO HO

HO HO

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HO HO

5a HO HO

OH O O OH OH O O

5b HO HO

5c

OH OH O O OH

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5a(~5%) / 5b(~50%) / 5c(~16%) /5d(~29%) : 5

HO HO

HO HO

HO HO

HO HO

HO HO

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O OH OH O O OH OH O O OH OH O O OH OH O

HO HO

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H O

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OH H O N OH OH H O O N OH O OH H O N OH OH H O O N OH OH H O O N OH OH H O O N OH O

HO HO

OH O O OH

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N H O

HO HO

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HO OH O O HO OH HO OH O O HO OH

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H

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24 HO H2N H

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H N O

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S N H

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H N 2

H

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26 , N

O O

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Fig. 3.4 Molecular structures of amphiphiles that self-assemble into organic nanotubes

H

NH2

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Fig. 3.5 Schematic illustration for chiral molecular packing of a molecule, in which the molecules pack at a nonzero angle with respect to the nearest neighbors. The image indicates a mirror-imaged relationship that is nonsuperimposable. The diacetylene group introduces a kink into the acyl chain of 1(8,9), which imposes a steric hindrance to the molecules packing parallel to each other

practical use in nanotechnological and biosensor applications [137–144]. An interesting suggestion by Perutz et al. that amyloid fibers are water-filled nanotubes excites our curiosity more and more [145]. It is well-known for approximately two decades that even the peptide derivatives associated with no biological activities can also form nanotubes by self-assembly [90, 146, 147]. Among them, dicarboxylic salts (for example, the Na+ salt) of dumbbell-shaped peptidic amphiphiles 3(n), in which two oligoglycine moieties are connected to the both ends of an oligomethylene spacer, can provide typical examples. They proved to self-assemble in weakly alkaline aqueous solutions into microtube architectures [148–151]. The obtained tubes encapsulate vesicular assemblies in their hollow cylinders, possessing 1–3 μm outer diameters and several-hundreds μm length (Fig. 3.6a, b). The unique morphology of the microtube is chemically, physically, or thermodynamically stable, exhibiting no remarkable morphological changes on heating to boiling conditions or on sonication treatment [148]. The vesicle-encapsulated microtubes that were discovered in 1996 remarkably contrast to fullerene-encapsulated CNTs (so-called peapods) [152] and precede 2 years to appear. Notably, the spherical molecular selfassemblies, so-called liposomes by Bangham et al. [153] and vesicles by Kunitake and Okahata [154] emerged in 1965 and 1977, respectively. Their findings precede more than 8 years before the discovery of carbon spheres fullerene [155]. Infinitely possible molecular design together with intrinsic aggregation properties in a solid state will have enabled one to encounter such epoch-making findings on molecular self-assembly.

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Fig. 3.6 Vesicle-encapsulated microtubes self-assembled from 3(10) in aqueous solutions. (a) Dark-field and (b) phase-contrast optical micrographs. (c) A single crystal structure of polyglycine II-type hydrogen-bond network stabilized by hexagonal self-assembly of linear polymolecular chains of 3(10)

Atomic force microscopy revealed that the headgroups of oligoglycine moiety in 3(n) are aligned perpendicularly to the tube membrane surface and eventually form distorted hexagonal packing [151]. This result is well compatible with the view that glycine residues hydrogen bond to the neighboring six glycine residues in a pseudo polyglycine-II-type hydrogen bond network (Fig. 3.6c) [150, 156–159]. In contrast, the dumbbell-shaped amphiphiles appending valylvaline residues at each end produce no tubular architectures, but only fiber structures [160]. Similarly, multiple hydrogen bond networks between amino-acid residues as well as hydrophobic interaction between saturated hydrocarbon chains can allow another type of oligoglycine-appended lipids 4(n) to easily organize into tubular

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b

a

c

Transition-Metal Cation

Fig. 3.7 (a) TEM image, (b) powder solids (10 g in amount), and (c) schematic illustration of metal cation-coordinated organic nanotubes from 4(n)

structures. For example, by just mixing the aqueous solution of 4(n) with that containing diluted acetic acid (H+ ), copper (Cu2+ )-, mangane (Mn2+ )-, ferri (Fe2+ )-, or cobalt (Co2+ )-acetate under ambient conditions, one can instantly obtain LNTs almost quantitatively (Fig. 3.7) [161]. The length of the hydrocarbon chains and the kind of transition metals including proton strongly affect the inner and outer diameters of the resultant LNTs, regulating the outer diameters from 60 to 500 nm and the inner diameters from 20 to 150 nm. Transition metal cations and lipid bilayers alternatively stack in this LNT to form nanotube membrane structures, in which the terminal carboxylate anions are coordinating to the metal cations. By using the advantage of metal-coordinated PNTs, our own research group has recently developed three kinds of metal nanoparticle-hybridized glycolipid nanotubes (GLNTs) and PNTs, in which the nanoparticles are localized in a specific space. Namely, surface deposition [162], capillary action [163], and in-membrane crystallization [164] allowed GLNTs and PNTs to transform into CdS-deposited GLNTs on the outer surfaces (Fig. 3.8a), CdS-encapsulated PNTs in the hollow cylinder (Fig. 3.8b), and fluorescent PNTs involving CdS nanoparticles only in the wall membranes, respectively (Fig. 3.8c).

3.4.3 Glycolipid Nanotubes (GLNTs) As compared with the extensive studies on the diacetylenic PLNTs (see the Section 3.4.1), only a few reports were addressed to GLNTs till 2000 [127, 165,

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Fig. 3.8 Schematic illustration for the metal nanoparticle-hybridized nanotubes, in which CdS nanoparticles are (a) deposited on the outer surface, (b) encapsulated in the hollow cylinder, and (c) embedded in the membrane wall

166] in spite of great number of physicochemical and biological studies of glycolipids themselves [167–172]. Somewhat difficulties in the chemical synthesis of glycolipids may have prevented the evolution of the study related to glycolipidforming nanotubes. In this background, Cardanol, well-known long-chain phenol mixtures derived from cashew nut shell liquid (CNSL) as renewable plant-derived resources [173], gave a chance to become an important material for nanotube formation. By covalently linking the cardanol moiety via O-glycoside bond with a hydrophilic glucose headgroup, John et al. synthesized glycoside mixtures 5 carrying triene-, diene-, monoene-, and saturated-type hydrocarbon chains. The mixtures were shown to efficiently self-assemble into fibrous nanotubes when dispersed in aqueous solutions under boiling conditions and allowed to gradually cool [94, 174]. The dimensions of the resultant nanotube, which possess 10 and 40–50 nm inner and

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Fig. 3.9 TEM image and plausible molecular packing for the self-assembled lipid nanotube from 5

outer diameters, respectively, and several tens to hundred μm length, were shown to be much smaller among the LNTs so far studied (Fig. 3.9) [6]. To overcome the thermal instability of the nanotubes from 5 (Tg–l = 41◦ C) for the practical use, our own research group newly designed a series of glucopyranosylamide lipids 6–11. Unfatty acids with different introduction position of a cis-double bond in the C18 hydrocarbon chains were connected via amide linkage to the glucose headgroup. Consequently, uniformity of the dimension and yields for the self-assembled LNTs strongly depended on the location of a cis-double bond (see the details shown in the Section 3.5.1) [126]. This finding means that the involvement of an unsaturated hydrocarbon chain as a hydrophobic moiety in the glycolipids is also crucial to form nanotube structures exclusively. In light of this guideline for molecular design of tube-forming glycolipids, Jung et al. have synthesized seven glucoside 12–18 and two galactoside 19 and 20 amphiphiles, which possess long chain p-alkanoylamino phenol groups as hydrophobic moieties. They systematically investigated the relationship between the degree of unsaturation and the formation capability of self-assembled LNTs [98, 125]. The introduced numbers of a cis-double bond in the hydrophobic chains were varied from one to five. Fully hydrated samples of 13, 14, and 15 gave relatively higher Tg–l by 40–80◦ C as compared to that of m-phenol glucoside derivatives 5. Therefore, all the glucoside compounds 13, 14, and 15 are found to exist in a solid state at room temperature. Depending on the degree of unsaturation, the glycolipids 13, 14, and 15 self-assembled into twisted nanofibers, helical ribbons, and nanotubes with 70 nm in inner diameters, respectively.

3.4.4 Graphitic Nanotubes (GNTs) Aida’s research group has recently succeeded in the formation of nanotube architectures by the self-assembly of amphiphilic hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene (HBC) derivatives that involve the 13 species of benzene units carved out from graphene

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Fig. 3.10 TEM images for the self-assembled nanotubes from 21. The inset in (b) shows an electron diffraction pattern of the tubular assembly. Bars: (a) 200 and (b) 50 nm. Reproduced with permission from Hill et al., 1481 [175]. ©2004, AAAS

structure [175]. CNT is well-known to be the ultimate one-dimensional materials with π-electron system, in which the graphene sheets condensedly packed with sp2 carbons are rolling up. However, it is too difficult not only to prepare them only by conventional organic synthesis, but also to chemically modify the CNT surface with a definite functionality. They have developed an optimized structure 21, in which the hydrophobic side of the HBC carries two dodecyl chains and the hydrophilic side consists of triethylene glycol moieties, for the nanotube formation in tetrahydrofuran. The resultant nanotubes with 20 nm in outer diameters are in a monodispersed state, having two open ends and a single bilayer wall 3 nm thick (Fig. 3.10). A single piece of the HBC nanotube was randomly positioned across two-probe Pt electrodes with a 180 nm gap on a SiO2 substrate. The nanotube after oxidation with NOBF4 showed a conducting I–V profile that is compatible with the resistivity of 2.5 M at 285 K [175]. It should be pointed out that a variety of functionalization on the surfaces enabled them to provide diverse graphitic nanotubes (GNTs) including the polymerization-stabilized [176–178], selectively-constructed chiral [179], photo-conductive [180], anion-capturing nanotubes [181], and microscopic fibers [182].

3.5 Recent Progress in Dimension Control 3.5.1 Outer Diameters The diameter control for the self-assembled LNTs from the diacetylenic phospholipids 1(m,n) has been extensively investigated by optimizing the mixing ratio of alcohol and water as a dispersion media, the type of alcohol used [183, 184], and

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cooling rate [185] for self-assembly. As far as we know, the dimensions of outer and inner diameters of self-assembled LNTs strongly depend on the intrinsic structures of molecule itself as well as the functionalities appended [6]. Furthermore, fine tuning of the molecular structure with keeping the molecular backbone is known to induce slight changes in dimensions experimentally [18, 20, 98, 126]. The replacement of the C–O–P phosphoryl linkage with a C–C–P phosphocholine group [186] in 1(m,n) or the use of the C–P functionality instead of the C–C–P linkage [187] makes the outer diameters of the resultant PLNTs change remarkably. On the other hand, the location of an unsaturated cis-double bond in the hydrocarbon chains of glucopyanosylamide lipids determines the resultant morphologies of the self-assembled nanotubes and eventually affects the size histogram of the outer diameters [126]. We synthesized a series of glucopyranosylamide lipid 6–11 with different introduction positions of a cis-double bond and analyzed carefully the outer diameters of large number pieces (> 250) of self-assembled nanotubes. Consequently, we have recently demonstrated a structurally optimized glycolipid structure 7 to form a uniform nanotube structure with 200 and 61 nm in outer and inner diameters, respectively (Fig. 3.11a, b). The size histogram of outer diameters for this nanotube of 7 showed the narrowest distribution (standard deviation = 23 nm) among those for 6, 7, and 8 (Fig. 3.11e, c, and d, respectively). It should be noted here that both the monoene derivative of the cardanyl glycolipid 5c and the 11-cis derivative 7 possess the identical C18 carbon numbers and the same unsaturation position when calculating from the neighbor carbon of the O-glycoside or

Fig. 3.11 (a) SEM and (b) high-resolution cryo-TEM images for the self-assembled nanotubes from 7. The histograms showing the distribution of outer diameters for the self-assembled nanotubes from (c) 7, (d) 8, and (e) 6. The histograms were evaluated for approximately 250 pieces of nanotubes obtained

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amide NH linkage. The glycolipids 6 or 8 that possess a cis-double bond at the C9 or C13 position widen their size distributions of outer diameters (Fig. 3.11e or 3.11d, respectively). In the similar way to the diacetylenic phospholipids 1(8,9), the introduction of a cis-double bond in the middle of the hydrophobic chain can allow the glycolipids to take a bent structure for optimization of chiral molecular packing [126].

3.5.2 Inner Diameters The regulation of inner diameters of organic hollow cylinders in the 10–100 nm range is generally difficult to perform without using a nanoporous template like an anodic alumina (AAM) or polycarbonate membrane. By designing wedge-shaped bolaamphiphiles 22(n), we have recently achieved for the first time the precise control of inner diameters for the self-assembled LNTs (Figs. 3.12 and 3.13) [20]. The bolaamphiphiles consist of two hydrophilic moieties, glucopyranose and carboxylic acid headgroups of different size, which link to an oligomethylene spacer (carbon numbers = 12∼20). Except for the bolaamphiphile 22(12) with the C12 oligomethylene spacer, the evaluated inner diameters of the obtained nanotubes varied from 17.7 to 22.2 nm at intervals of approximately 1.5 nm every increment of two carbons in the spacer chains (Fig. 3.13). The nanotube formation was found to occur in a single step based on the packing-derived self-assembly accompanying with no intermediate morphologies. Detailed X-ray analysis supported that the monolayer

Fig. 3.12 TEM image and molecular packing for the self-assembled nanotubes from 22(16)

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Fig. 3.13 Histgrams showing observed inner diameters of self-assembled nanotubes from (a) 22(12), (b) 22 (14), (c) 22 (16), (d) 22 (18), and (e) 22 (20), which were evaluated for approximately 250 pieces of nanotubes obtained. Calculated values based on a simulation are also shown in parentheses (see the details in the Ref. [20])

membranes of the amphiphile pack in a parallel fashion (unsymmetrical MLM), resulting into unsymmetrical inner and outer surfaces covered with carboxylic acid and sugar hydroxyl groups, respectively (Fig. 3.12, upper). The molecular design similar to this carboxylic acid-based bolaamphiphile 22(n) have allowed us to form self-assembled LNTs from the amine-based bolaamphiphiles 23(n) (n = 18 and 20). They also have unsymmetrical inner and outer surfaces covered with amine and sugar hydroxyl headgroups, respectively [17, 18, 114]. The pH values, depending on weakly alkaline or neutral conditions, allowed the inner diameters of the self-assembled LNTs of 23(18) to have 80 or 20 nm, respectively [17, 18]. Interestingly, the narrower nanotubes with 20 nm inner diameters proved to be driven by chiral molecular self-assembly system. These types of unsymmetrical LNTs from 22(n) and 23(n) are of great advantage to chemically modify the carboxylic acid or amine group with any functionalities for the selective encapsulation of 10–50 nm scaled guest substances.

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3.5.3 Wall Thickness The wall thickness of LNTs will sensitively affect the membrane properties such as robustness, stiffness, and permeability of the constituent bilayer and monolayer membranes. Ratna et al. found that the resultant number of bilayers in the selfassembled LNT from 1(8,9) is influenced by the composition of mixture solvents [183]. In methanol/water mixture, the self-assembly of 1(8,9) tends to produce the nanotubes consisting of single bilayers, whereas that in ethanol/water or water produces nanotubes consisting of multiple bilayers. By controlling low and high lipid concentrations for the self-assembly, Spector et al. succeeded in preparation of LNTs of 1(8,9) with single bilayers and two- to four-bilayer walls separately [78, 79]. They claimed that if they can evaluate the crossover concentration, they can produce the nanotubes consisting of two-bilayer membranes exclusively. Elegant tubular structures with a monodisperse thickness of membrane walls have been also reported for certain tube-forming compounds. For example, a simple aqueous solution of lithocholic acid salt 24 is known to self-assemble into steroid nanotubes that possess a quite uniform wall thickness corresponding to a monomolecular length of the steroid molecule [188–190]. The LNT consisting of monolayer membranes of monomolecular thickness also self-assembles from amino-acid-based 25 [112] and the sugar-based wedge-shaped amphiphile 26 [19]. In particular, the amphiphile 26, carrying glucose- and triglycine-headgroups at both ends, exclusively self-assembles into nanotubes with 7–9 nm inner diameters. Furthermore, they consist of the molecular monolayer 3–4 nm wide (Fig. 3.14). Polyglycine-II-type-hydrogen-bond networks (Fig. 3.6c) [156, 157, 159] among the triglycine moieties line up the unsymmetrical monolayer membrane to stabilize parallel molecular packing (Fig. 3.14, upper). As already discussed in the Section 3.4.4, Aida’s research group has recently reported the self-assembly of nanotubes from 21 with a single bilayer wall 3 nm thick [175]. The LNTs that possess unilamellar with an inner diameter of 16 nm and a constant diameter of 27 nm have been also prepared by biotin-containing dioctadecylamine molecules 27 [191]. At all events, there exists a variety of wall thicknesses from a single to multiple layers in the LNT, like single-wall to multi-wall CNTs.

3.5.4 Length The control of length dimension for the LNTs is of great importance to perform desired functions of organic nanotubes with high-aspect ratios. For example, the releasing rate of encapsulated drugs from the terminal ends of the LNT should be strongly dependent on the nanotube length [192]. Relatively longer nanotubes with more than 10 μm in length will be applicable to, for example, nanochannel parts in miniaturized systems for chemistry and life sciences (what we call “micro total analysis systems: μ-TAS”). Toward single molecular protein and DNA analyses, medium-sized (1 μm ∼ 10 μm) and relatively shorter nanotubes (less than

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Fig. 3.14 TEM image and molecular packing for the self-assembled nanotubes from 26

1 μm in length) may be usable as microdevice parts including capillaries, connectors, or pipettes, and as supramolecular container- or sensor assemblies, respectively. However, it has been too difficult to achieve the precise length control by rationally designing the internal molecular backbone and the arrangement of diverse functionalities in each tube-forming amphiphile. In other words, the nanotube length cannot be regulated by any intrinsic structural factors in molecular building blocks. Initial attempt has been done more than 10 years ago by tuning the composition of mixture solvents [193] or by addition of alkaline metal salts [147]. Thomas’s research group will be the first to achieve the length control by studying carefully the formation kinetics in the self-assembly of multilamellar LNTs from the diacetylenic phospholipids 1(8,9) [185]. On the basis of variable-temperature X-ray diffraction study, they confirmed the first-order nature of the phase transition at the nanotube formation temperature. This finding suggested that the control of the cooling rate should determine the nanotube morphology. When examining over a wide range of cooling rates from 0.08 ◦ C/h to 105 ◦ C/h, they found that the lengths of the resultant nanotubes are controllable from 1 to 100 μm without affecting the diameter of the LNTs. A gentle mechanical stirring is also applicable to shorten and regulate the length effectively for the resultant nanotubes of 7 [192]. The stirring time and rate can direct the length distribution. It should be noted that no shorter LNTs less than

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1 μm in length are obtainable. This method will be effective to limit the LNT length within its intrinsic persistent length. As described before, Martin et al. developed the template method by wetting porous template with various organic and inorganic materials [12, 13, 15, 16, 86, 87]. This will be indeed promising to generate tubular architectures with uniform diameters and lengths. Actually, polymer nanotubes with diameters ranging from a few tens of nm to μm are obtainable by the template wetting with polymer melts or solutions [16, 194–196]. However, the chemical and physical properties of wetting materials as well as porous membranes sensitively direct the hollowness of the resultant tubes with well-defined open ends. We have developed a rapid and convenient method to prepare LNTs with definite diameters by successive use of vesicle extrusion and AAM porous templates [197]. Even for the self-assembly system of lipids, the mean outer and inner diameters, and wall thickness can be remarkably regulated by the template method. However, the details about the homogeneity of the obtained LNT length still need further investigation.

3.6 Hollow Cylinder as an Encapsulation Field for Biomacromolecular Guests Yui et al. revealed for the first time the solvent polarity and viscosity of confined water inside the LNT hollow cylinder (10 nm inner diameter) of 5 [198, 199]. Consequently, the water was found to show the physical properties of structured water similar to intracellular water. This finding suggested us the application of LNTs to a nanocontainer, nanochannel, and nanopipette, in which we can stably preserve biomacromolecules sensitive to temperature, pH, and polarity of aqueous environments [21]. Figure 3.15 illustrates the comparison between the sizes of a variety of biomacromolecules and nanoparticles in the 1–100 nm range, and the inner diameters of the LNTs obtained so far [126, 149, 174]. In this size region, one can find, for example, DNA (2 nm wide), Ferritin (12 nm diameter) that is one of the largest spherical proteins [200], and a variety of polymer nanoparticles (5–30 nm diameter) [201–203]. There also exist norovirus (27 nm diameter) that is the smallest spherical virus [204] and magnetosome (50–100 nm wide) that is aligning in magnetotactic bacteria in this region [205, 206]. Attempts to encapsulate such biomacromolecular substances into LNT hollow first started with the utilization of capillary action. As a result, we demonstrated that the LNTs can well encapsulate the aqueous solutions or dispersions containing such a guest substance into the internal hollow cylinders [21, 207, 208]. Before encapsulation procedure, however, one has to remove the confined water in the hollow cylinders by lyophilization. Favorably, no remarkable changes in the hollowness take place during this pre-treatment. Relationship between the size of the guest substances encapsulated and inner diameters of the LNT hollow cylinders strongly affect their encapsulation ability as well as the one-dimensional confinement patterns of the encapsulated guests. Encapsulation behavior of the LNT from 7 with 30–50 nm inner diameters was

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Fig. 3.15 Comparison of size dimensions among carbon- (CNTs), peptide- (PNTs), phospholipid(PLNTs), glycolipid nanotubes (GLNTs), nanoscale biomacromolecules and biological objects. The images of Ferritin and norovirus are reproduced with permission from Prof. Ichiro Yamashita (CREST, JST) and Voedselinfecties door virussen-virusgevaar onder de loep (Bijkerk [275]. ©2002, RIVM/CIE), respectively

Fig. 3.16 Magnified TEM images for the glycolipid nanotubes from 7 that encapsulate (a) Ferritin (12 nm diameter), (b) gold nanoparticles (3–5 nm wide), and (c) Fe3 O4 nanoparticles (5–10 nm diameters) in the hollow cylinders. Traced image of (a) is also shown in the bottom of (a)

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investigated by using gold nanoparticles of different diameters as guests. The gold nanoparticles 3–10 nm wide arrange in the hollow cylinder with 4–5 lines in a confined fashion, whereas those 15 nm diameter form a single line [207]. The nanoparticles more than 50 nm diameter were observed to stay outside of the hollow cylinder without encapsulation. Heat treatment or solvent extraction can allow the removal of organic components that shape the outer shell of the obtained organicmetallic hybrid nanotubes. This means that one can fabricate metal nanowires whose widths can be controlled by the diameter size of the LNT hollow cylinders [207, 209, 210]. Thus, supramolecular LNTs have been recently observed to encapsulate a variety of biomacromolecules, such as double-stranded DNA [17, 110], Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP, 3 × 4.5 nm) [211], Ferritin (Fig. 3.16a) [17, 114, 212], DNA-binding protein from starved cells (Dps, 9 nm) [17], and magnetosome [213], as well as a variety of nanoparticles, such as gold (3–30 nm) (Fig. 3.16b) [207, 208], magnetite nanoparticles (10 nm) (Fig. 3.16c) (Yui & Shimizu, Unpublished results), cadmium sulfide (3–5 nm) [163], and anionic polymer beads (20 nm) [114].

3.7 Control of Polymorphism and Rational Design of Inner Surfaces The supramolecular nanotubes that possess completely unsymmetrical inner and outer surfaces are promisingly applicable to selective filling of nanomaterials and biomacromolecules into their hollow cylinders. To fabricate them exclusively, one needs to accept only single molecular packing among the possible four types. It is well-known that the molecular packing of wedge-shaped amphiphiles in a solid state includes two types of polymorphism, polymorph and polytype. The polymorph can be classified into unsymmetrical or symmetrical monolayer membranes (MLMs) depending on whether the molecules pack in a parallel or an antiparallel fashion, respectively. Here, relatively larger and smaller headgroups of the wedge-shaped amphiphile are defined as a head and a tail, respectively. The polytype further appears depending on whether the second unsymmetrical or symmetrical MLM stacks with head-to-tail (or tail-to-head) or head-to-head (or tail-to-tail) interlamellar interfaces. Therefore, the combination of two types of polymorph and two types of polytype should result into the occurrence of four types of molecular packing (Fig. 3.17) [214, 215]. All reports of X-ray single crystal analyses for wedge-shaped amphiphiles have so far demonstrated the occurrence of the head-to-tail molecular packing in a symmetrical MLM [216, 217]. We reported for the first time the unique example of a single crystal structure, involving head-to-tail packing of unsymmetrical MLMs [214, 215]. A variety of amphiphiles are known to self-assemble into spheres, rods, fibers, tapes, helical ribbons, or nanotubes [3, 4, 218–225]. If the molecular interactions between the hydrophilic headgroups of the amphiphiles are weak, it is generally difficult to define how each molecule packs in the assemblies. In case of wedge-shaped amphiphiles, where multiple hydrogen-bonding functionalities are introduced, the

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Fig. 3.17 Possible four types of monolayer lipid membranes (MLMs) from wedge-shaped amphiphiles, depending on (1) polymorph and (2) polytype patterns

obtained X-ray diffraction patterns for the resultant assemblies should give useful information about long-range ordering of corresponding monolayer membrane [226]. The frequencies and peak profile of the CH2 scissoring bands provide valuable information on the sub-cell structure of corresponding oligomethylene spacers [227]. For example, the obtained long-range ordering (d = 3.65 nm) and single IR band at 1,464 cm–1 for the supramolecular LNT from 23(18) are exactly compatible with the head-to-tail packing of unsymmetrical MLMs [114]. Nowadays, one can discuss in this way about the detailed molecular orientation and arrangement of the LNTs consisting of solid surfaces [6]. Unlike low-molecular-weight guest substances that are treated in conventional host–guest chemistry [228, 229], meso-scale guests with 10–100 nm dimensions should have a variety of characteristics, including surface hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity, molecular shape, flexibility, and surface charges. When performing the selective and effective encapsulation of such a variety of guest substances into the hollow cylinders, one has to consider how we can design the functionalities, surface charges and their distribution of inner surfaces, the size of inner diameters and length of the LNTs. Those factors that tailor advanced supramolecular hosts have never been addressed when designing conventional low-molecular-weight host compounds. Thus, immobilization of rationally designed functionalities as well as charges onto the inner surfaces of the LNTs will allow for the effective encapsulation of guest substances, leading to the applications as the nanocontainer, nanochannel, and nanopipette.

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3.8 Applications as a Nanocontainer, Nanochannel, and Nanopipette A single cell possesses the water volume of one picoliter inside when considering it as a cube 10 μm wide. On the other hand, the nanotube characterized by 10 nm inner diameters as well as 1 μm length can provide the confined water volume corresponding to one attoliter, which is smaller by factor of 106 than that of the single cell. Confined liquid nanospace shaped by the LNTs is favorable to feature the chemical events in attoliter space, which will be named “attoliter chemistry”. Typical examples of applications that benefited such characteristics of the LNTs are introduced below.

3.8.1 Nanocontainer As already mentioned, Kameta et al. has recently synthesized wedge-shaped amphiphiles 23(n) having glucose and amino headgroups of different sizes at each end [114]. Thin films of 23(n), obtained from a dimethylformamide solution, were used as self-assembling seeds. The amphiphiles 23(18) and 23(20) are found to organize in aqueous solutions at pH ∼10 to form the nanotubular structures consisting of unsymmetrical MLMs [18]. When the lyophilized nanotubes from the above dispersions are dispersed again in water, they can possess partially cationic inner surfaces under neutral pH conditions [17]. This new design of supramolecular nanotube hosts not only allow the chemical modification or immobilization of functionalities onto the inner surfaces, but partially implement positive or negative charges. The obtained LNT nanocontainer of 23(18), which has the inner surfaces partially covered with positively charged amino groups, was mixed in aqueous solutions with spherical protein Ferritin (12 nm diameter) or poly(styrene) nanobeads (20 nm diameter) having anionic outer surfaces. Consequently, they have succeeded in the efficient encapsulation of anionic guests, independent of lyophilization and capillary action [114]. A donor chromophore in its excited state can transfer energy to an acceptor chromophore in close proximity (< 10 nm). If the DNA labeled with a fluorescent donor molecule is certainly confined in a LNT hollow cylinder, the addition of a fluorescent acceptor molecule from outside should induce time-requiring quenching of the fluorescence due to the slow diffusion of the acceptor molecule. On the basis of this fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) experiment, we have very recently found that the LNT of 23(18) with 80 nm inner diameter can encapsulate the double-stranded DNA (T4GT7-DNA, 166 kbp and 56 μm long) [17]. On the other hand, the LNT of 23(18) with 20 nm inner diameters cannot encapsulate the DNA. The double-stranded DNA with a persistence length of typically 50 nm long can allow the penetration into the wider nanotube not into the narrower one. Thus, the size and inner surface charge of the nanocontainer strongly affect the effective encapsulation of spherical proteins and double-stranded DNA. Indeed,

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Fig. 3.18 TEM images for the self-assembled nanotubes from a variety of molecular building blocks, which display the encapsulation or no encapsulation abilities toward Ferritin and Dps. (a) The nanotube of 23(18) with 80-nm inner diameters, which encapsulated Ferritin in the hollow cylinder. (b) The same nanotube as in (a), which showed no encapsulation ability for Dps. (c) The nanotube of 23(18) with 20-nm inner diameters, which was prepared under different pH conditions, also encapsulated Ferritin. (d) The same nanotube as in (c), which showed no encapsulation ability for Dps. (e) The nanotube of 22(18) with 20-nm inner diameters, which showed no encapsulation ability for Ferritin. (f) The same nanotube as in (e), which encapsulated Dps. Arrows indicate the corresponding biomacromolecules that locate inside or outside of LNTs

electrostatic interaction between the surfaces of the LNT host and the guest protein was found to induce effective encapsulation of the guest into the LNT hollow cylinder (Fig. 3.18, Table 3.1). The LNTs with partially positive charges on the inner surfaces never encapsulated positively charged Dps (Fig. 3.18b, d), although both LNTs can effectively encapsulate the negatively charged Ferritin via electrostatic interaction (Fig. 3.18a, c), irrespective of the inner diameter size. On the other hand, the carboxylate LNTs of 22(18) displayed the opposite behavior to that of those nanotubes. Namely, the self-assembled LNTs from 22(18) effectively encapsulated Dps (Fig. 3.18f), whereas they never encapsulated Ferritin because of electrostatic repulsion (Fig. 3.18e).

3.8.2 Nanochannel To fabricate nanofluidic devices for sensing a single DNA molecule, Yang’s research group are currently developing the use of inorganic nanotubes consisting of GaN or silica, which are integrated with microfabrication system [230, 231]. On the

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Table 3.1 The effect of the inner diameter size and charges of LNTs on the encapsulation ability of three biomacromolecules Biomacromolecular guest

Self-assembled nanotube host

Species (diameter)

Surface charge

23(18) 23(18) 22(18) 7 i.d. = ∼80 nm i.d. = ∼20 nm i.d. = ∼20 nm i.d. = ∼60 nm

Ferritin (12 nm) Dps (9 nm) T4GT7-DNAc (2 nm wide)

Negative Positive Negative

Partly positive Encap.a No Encap.b Encap.a

Partly positive Encap.a No Encap.b No Encap.b

Partly negative No Encap.b Encap.a n.d.d

No charge No Encap.b No Encap.b n.d.d

a Encapsulated. b Not

encapsulated. kbp, 56 μm. d Not determined. c 166

other hand, attractive and potential properties of organic nanotubes, including tolerance toward diverse functionalization, possibility of labile manipulation, and dynamic morphologies, have prompted researchers to employ them in nanofluidic applications. The LNTs consisting of fluid-lipid-bilayer membranes were first attempted as a nanochannel system for transport of molecules and nanomaterials. To connect a couple of different fluid vesicles to form branched conduits, Tirrell’s research group developed an interesting method by pulling a fluid LNT from a micropipette-held feeder vesicle [105, 232]. The composition of the vesicle involves a mixture of 66 mol.% stearoyl-oleoyl phosphatidylcholine, 33 mol.% cholesterol, and 1 mol.% N-([6-(biotinyloyl)amino]hexanoyl)-1,2-dihexadecanoylsn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine, triethylammonium salt. The inner diameters of the nanotubes are controllable in the 20–200 nm range by adjusting the suction pressure in the micropipette. Following this micromanipulation protocols for LNTs, Orwar and co-workers recently developed a new electroinjection technique [233– 239]. In this system, the LNTs interconnect fluid-state phospholipid bilayer vesicles, enabling complex two-dimensional microscopic networks (for details, see Chapter 4 by Lobovkina et al.). Long polymer nanotubes have also been created by pulling on the membrane of polymersomes using optical tweezers or a micropipette [240]. On the other hand, the chemical functionalization for the inner surfaces of solid LNTs enabled us to construct an optical recognition system for the diffusion of guest biomacromolecules or metal nanoparticles. Namely, the fluorescence microscopy using FRET system can allow us to visualize the nanofluidic behavior of the guest species in the LNT nanochannels (80 nm inner diameter) of 23(18) (Fig. 3.19). The FRET occurs only when the fluorescent-acceptor (QSY7)-immobilized guests are approaching to the fluorescent donor dye (NBD-F) within few nm, which is covalently linked to the amino groups on the LNT inner surfaces (Fig. 3.20). Kameta et al. has also recently succeeded in elucidation for the nanofluidic features of QSY7-immobilized Ferritin [14 nm on the basis of dynamic light scattering (DLS)], -gold nanoparticles (1.4 nm), and QSY7 itself in the nanochannel (80 nm inner

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Fig. 3.19 Time-lapse fluorescence microscopic images of the NBD-immobilized LNT (80 nm inner diameter) from 23(18) upon addition of QSY7-immobilized Ferritin. The time course was indicated in the top left of each figure

Fig. 3.20 Schematic illustration indicating gradual quenching phenomenon based on FRET from the internal NBD to the QSY7-Ferritin, which was encapsulated in the organic nanochannel of the NBD-immobilized LNT of 23(18)

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diameter) shaped by the LNT hollow cylinder [17]. Interestingly, the encapsulation only occurs under neutral pH conditions. The evaluated diffusion constant (D = 0.7 × 10–11 m2 /s) for the QSY7-immobilized Ferritin is 5 times smaller that that of the QSY7-Ferritin in a bulk aqueous solution (D = 3.4 × 10–11 m2 /s). Orwar et al. suggested that the diffusion constant of the nanoparticle in the fluid-state LNT of ∼200 nm inner diameters was similar to the theoretical diffusion constant for a 30 nm particle at 298 K in a 100 nm diameter tube (D = 0.9 × 10–11 m2 /s) [241, 242]. This D-value is well compatible with the experimental evaluation for the opened solid-state LNT.

3.8.3 Nanopipette Fukuda and Arai’s research group, experts of robotics and micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS), has recently developed a nanopipette device with 50-nm inner diameters. The unique device consists of a single solid LNT of 7, which was fixed at the tip of a glass micropipette with photo-crosslinkable resin (Fig. 3.21) [243]. Single cell analysis has attracted much attention to clarify the unknown biological and analytical aspects of individual single cells. The probe-type device with nanometer scale dimensions, such as a nanopipette, can be expected as an end-effecter to control the local environment of cells with minimal changes to the environment. Some fabrications of nano pipette-like devices have been developed, including pointed-tip-type carbon whiskers [244], glass micropipette with a stacked nozzle nanostructure [245], and borosilicate glass capillary prepared by a commercially available puller [246]. There still remain many difficult issues to solve in terms

Fig. 3.21 (a) Schematic illustration for a nanopipette fixed at the tip of a glass micropipette with a cross-linkable resin. (b) SEM and (b) optical microscopic images for the nanopipette consisting of the LNT, glass micropipette, and cross-linkable resin

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of the maintenance of complete hollowness, the fabrication time, appropriate stiffness, and the cost for the fabrication apparatus. By picking up a LNT and sealing the interspace between the LNT and glass micropipette with photo-crosslinkable resin, they succeeded in the fixation of the LNT. A fluorescent solution of Rhodamine 6G was applied to spout by electroosmotical force. When the applied voltage was 426 V, they confirmed the spout of the solution from the LNT tip using fluorescent microscopy, which remarkably contrasts to that from a glass micropipette in terms of the volume spouted.

3.9 Present and Future Aspects of Self-Assembled Organic Nanotubes Self-assembly process of amphiphilic molecules in aqueous solutions is wellknown as a general preparation method for organic nanotubes formation [6, 89, 91, 92]. Actually, a novel type of LNTs that are of great interest in terms of functions and applications have been formed from diverse amphiphilic compounds, including phosphatidylcholine [247], aminoglycerol [248], N-acyl phenylalanine [249], cetyltrimenthylammoniumbromide [250], dumbbell-shaped oligomer consisting of hexa-para-phenylene rod and aliphatic polyether dendrons [251], ABA triblock macromonomers [252], and cyclic lipid derivatives [253]. However, complete organization into nanotube morphology generally requires several steps of morphological change as well as long time spanning several days to several weeks. Therefore, it has been impossible in the laboratory to produce more than 1 g of LNTs. Manufacturer will also need water of more than 1,000 L for 1-g production of the LNTs. Synthesis of tube-forming amphiphiles also needs skillful techniques, endurance, and long time of several weeks to complete all chemical treatment. Therefore, aiming at large-scale production with reduced cost, we reconsidered raw materials, consisting of low-cost carbohydrates and peptides used as foods, for the synthesis of the tube-forming compounds. Furthermore, we also attempted the self-assembly in organic solvents like ethanol, instead of aqueous solvents, used as a food. It should be pointed out that the self-assembly of tubular structures in organic solvents is currently not so novel matter since the discovery by Shinkai’s research group in 2000 [102, 254–258]. However, white solid powders consisting of supramolecular LNTs, this time, proved to self-assemble 1,000 times more than that by self-assembly in the same amount of water [259]. The yield of more than 100 g and that of more than 10 kg have been becoming possible in a laboratory (Fig. 3.22) and factory, respectively. It should be emphasized that these LNTs are organic nanotubes whose properties and size dimensions differ from well-known CNTs. Cyclic oligosaccharides named cyclodextrin exhibit advantageous properties [260, 261]. By encapsulating diverse hydrophobic low-molecular weight compounds into the hydrophobic cavity, they can stabilize unstable substances, release drugs and flagrance, and improve the dispersibility of substances insoluble in water.

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Fig. 3.22 (a) one-hundred gram of organic nanotubes prepared with 8 and (b) the SEM images of the solid powders in (a)

Therefore, a variety of cyclodextrin are widely used, for example, in food industry, water-based paint, medical application, deodorization materials, and cosmetics fields. By replacing the cyclodextrin with the supramolecular tubular assemblies with 10–100 nm inner diameters, one can capture proteins, metal nanoparticles, and DNA, which the cyclodextrin cannot encapsulate at all. Benefiting from the unique properties of the organic nanotubes in many diverse fields, such as encapsulation, separation, slow release, and adsorption, they can be expected as slow-release fertilizer in agriculture fields, pet and healthy food, skin care materials, targeting drug delivery system, and the removal of metal nanoparticles in environmental fields [262]. In actual, potential medical and biological applications using self-assembled LNTs and polymer nanotubes are in progress, including controlled drug release [263], gene delivery [264], cell adhesion [265], antimicrobial activity [123], helical crystallization of proteins [266, 267], and biomolecule sensing [268]. The alignment and ordered arrays of the solid LNTs on solid substrates [76, 124, 269, 270] are also important issues for their practical use. At the same time, the establishment for the substantial methodologies unveiling the mechanical properties of a single piece of LNT is also developing and gaining a lot of interest [26, 76, 271–273]. The protein named tubulin self-organizes into microtubule with 25 nm inner diameters on demand. The microtubules exhibit a variety of functions to form spindle on cell division, to form cytoskeleton consisting of fibrillar network, and to perform flagella or ciliary movement [274]. It is of great interest that, when unnecessary, depolymerization scheme convert the tubular morphology into intrinsic tubulin protein. Similarly, it is assumed that supramolecular LNTs encapsulating effective drugs are transported to a diseased part and released them slowly. Eventually, the nanotube architectures will decompose into each constituting molecule by the change in the external environment or the stimulating response, in a way similar as that reported by Li’s research group [264]. They will certainly gain more benefits if safely adsorbed with biocompatibility through skin. If the molecule itself is safe to the body as well as environment, the bottom-up type fabrication system based on molecular self-assembly will have preference since the exhibition of function occurs only in the state of molecular organization. By assembling and amplifying

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diverse and intriguing function, with which molecules are naturally equipped, one can make the self-assembled molecules exhibit novel functions. Further progress in the research on supramolecular assembly will certainly result into the appearance of revolutionary supramolecular nanotubes that have big influence in the world.

3.10 Summary Focusing on discrete, self-assembled organic nanotubes, with well-defined dimensions and morphologies, from amphiphilic compounds, we categorized molecular building blocks for the nanotube formation into eight groups. Among them, the formation scheme for the chiral molecular and packing directed self-assembly has been addressed in detail. The researches on diacetylenic phospholipid-, peptide-, glycolipid-, and molecular graphene-based-nanotubes have been outlined with their characteristics and recent progress. We have also touched on the recent progress in dimension control of self-assembled LNTs, showing a number of achievements of precise control for the inner and outer diameters, wall thickness, and length. To demonstrate the potent functions of the LNT hollow cylinder as an encapsulation field for biomacromolecules, we have introduced several examples for the applications, including nanocontainers, nanochannels, and nanopipettes, which are strongly associated with nano-bio fields. Finally, high expectations for the selfassembled organic nanotubes as new nanomaterials are discussed in comparison with cyclodextrins and microtubules. Acknowledgment The author thanks his colleagues Dr. Mitsutoshi Masuda, Dr. Hiroyuki Minamikawa, Dr. Masaki Kogiso, Dr. Masumi Asakawa, Dr. Masaru Aoyagi, Dr. Rika Iwaura, Dr. Bo Yang, and Dr. Qingmin Ji for their continuous support at Nanoarchitectonics Research Center (NARC), AIST, during the course of this work on self-assembled LNTs. Dr. Naohiro Kameta, Dr. Yong Zhou, Dr. Nahoko Morii, and Ms. Keiko Sumitomo (SORST, JST); Dr. Shoko Kamiya and Dr. George John (CREST, JST) are acknowledged for collaboration on the synthesis and analysis of self-assembled organic tubular architectures. Dr. Kaname Yoshida and Prof. Seiji Isoda (Kyoto Univ.) are gratefully acknowledged for their carrying out TEM measurements. Prof. Tsuguo Sawada, Prof. Kohzo Ito, Dr. Yasuhiro Sakai, and Dr. Yanli Guo (University of Tokyo); Prof. Hiroharu Yui (Tokyo Univ. of Science), Prof. Yoshinori Yamaguchi (Waseda Univ.), Prof. Hiroshi Frusawa (Kochi Univ. of Tech.), Prof. Ichiro Yamashita (Nara Inst. Sci. Tech. and CREST, JST), Dr. Yumiko Mishima (CREST, JST), Prof. Kuniaki Nagayama (Natl. Inst. Nat. Sci.), Prof. Jong Hwa Jung (Gyeongsang Natl. Univ.), Prof. Toshio Fukuda (Nagoya Univ.), and Prof. Fumito Arai (Tohoku Univ.) are also acknowledged for fruitful collaboration on novel physicochemical and encapsulation properties of LNTs. The Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) is acknowledged for financial support of the CREST and SORST projects.

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Chapter 4

Soft-Matter Nanotubes Tatsiana Lobovkina, Aldo Jesorka, Björn Önfelt, Jan Lagerwall, Paul Dommersnes, and Owe Orwar

Abstract This chapter provides an overview over the extended area of surfactant nanotubes research, covering theoretical as well as experimental approaches. Fabrication strategies for nanotube assemblies include surfactant or amphiphile self-assembly, forced shape transformations and, in case of appropriately functionalized building blocks, polymerization. The main body of this review is dedicated to the dynamic properties of lipid nanotubes, their role in vesicle-nanotube networks and derivatives consisting of branched, knotted, or circular nanotubes. Transport modes and enzymatic reactions in nanotube-interconnected vesicles are discussed, in particular their application as unique research tools to mimic sub-cellular conditions, and to explore concepts of unconventional, miniaturized chemical reactors in a biocompatible environment. Lipid nanotubes can be expected to further gain in importance as model systems for nanotube-based (transport) processes in biological cells. They facilitate the investigation of chemical reaction kinetics in complex structured geometries as well as studies of transport phenomena involving ultra small volumes and single molecules, and provide new insights into fundamental aspects of the biophysics of membranes. This review is particularly committed to highlight the rich opportunities to engineer and utilize surfactant nanotube assemblies, leading the way to future biological and technological applications.

Symbols ao vch lch D Fnanotube κ C1 , C2 C0 C

Interface area occupied by the polar head group of a surfactant molecule. Volume of the hydrocarbon region of a surfactant molecule. Length of the hydrocarbon region of a surfactant molecule. Diffusion constant. Free energy of lipid nanotube. Bending rigidity. Two principal curvatures. Spontaneous curvature. Curvature of the string.

O. Orwar (B) Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-41296 Göteborg, Sweden e-mail: [email protected]


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A dA σ f f0 l p V g r r0 kB T ζ|| , ζ⊥ η v|| , v⊥ vY s τ τ0 δτ t x h heq u Z X ux , uxx ∂u ∂t t1

Lp R sphere tube tmix , tmix , tmix ttraffic τ relax J JP JM σ i, j cqj (t)

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Area. Surface area element. Membrane tension. Pulling force. Equilibrium pulling force. Length. Pressure. Volume. Genus number. Lipid nanotube radius. Equilibrium radius of lipid nanotube. Boltzmann constant. Temperature. Friction coefficients (per unit length) for parallel and perpendicular directions, respectively. Solvent viscosity. String velocities in the parallel and perpendicular directions. Velocity of the Y∗ -junction. Arch length. String tension. Equilibrium string tension. Deviation from the equilibrium string tension. Time. Coordinate. Parameter, describing shape of lipid nanotubes. Equilibrium shape of lipid nanotube Deviation from the equilibrium shape. Height of the Y-junction network. Half-width of the Y-junction network. First and second derivatives of u in x-direction. Time-derivative of u. Relaxation time. Persistence length. Vesicle radius. Mixing time. Traffic time. Relaxation time. Resulting flow in the lipid nanotube interior. Poiseuille flow. Marangoni flow. Volume fraction. Change in membrane tension. Container number. Concentration of substance q at time moment t in the container j.

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∂t cqj (t)

Change in concentration of substance q as a function of time.

(q) kij

Rate of the diffusive transport of substance q from container i to container j. Diffusion coefficient of substance q. Length of the tube connecting containers i and j. Volume of vesicle j. Reaction constants. Michaelis constant. Phenomenological loss term. Bilayer normal. Average chain direction. Tilt angle. Tilting direction.

Dq ij Vj k1 , k−1 , k−cat KM (q) kdissip k n θ ϕ

4.1 Introduction The control of chemical reactions combined with manipulation and transport of ultra-small amounts of reactants down to the limit of single molecules is a considerable scientific and engineering challenge. Stimulated by the rapidly increasing knowledge of biological systems, where nanoscale reaction containers and interconnecting tubular assemblies are the foundation of many sub-cellular processes, man-made soft-matter nanotube structures and associated systems have already emerged to provide in-depth insight into reaction and transport phenomena on the ultra-small scale. Self-assembled as well as mechanically formed nanosized conduits and tubular arrangements made from soft-matter materials such as surfactant membranes offer interesting opportunities in nanotechnology research. Unlike hard material nanodevices, which are typically produced by top-down fabrication using e-beam lithography or a variety of other methods, soft-matter nanostructures are accessible through unconventional fabrication routes, such as self-assembly, self-organization, and forced shape transitions. Surfactant membranes are flexible, offering unprecedented control over device dimensions, geometries, fluidity, and functionality. These properties can often be changed on demand resulting in responsive and dynamic devices. Furthermore, such devices can incorporate and interact with a variety of biological materials, components, and systems, thus providing a level of complexity that is difficult to attain using conventional cleanroom technologies. Surfactant soft-matter nanotube assemblies, and associated devices find use in biophysics, biology, biomedicine, and bioanalysis where requirements for similarity, compatibility, and compliance with living matter systems are particularly high. Applications may range from basic research such as investigations of reactiondiffusion phenomena in nanoscale networks to transport and identification of single DNA molecules confined in nanotubes. Soft matter surfactant structures combine a variety of attractive features and properties, such as compatibility with aqueous

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environments, chemical stability, ease of preparation, and accessibility to different modes of material transport through their fluid boundary or interior. Furthermore, the tubular structures can be prepared with an unusually large length-to-diameter ratio, as well as in different complex geometric and topological shapes. Soft-matter nanotubes, predominantly consisting of non-covalently interacting surfactants such as phospholipids, serve, on one hand, important roles in biological systems, mainly in maintaining inter- and intracellular transport and communication, and, on the other hand, gain more and more importance in artificial biomimetic devices. In summary, this chapter highlights recent advances in soft-matter (surfactant) nanotube technology, largely based on biomimetic phospholipid membrane assemblies. The material in this section should provide biomedical researchers as well as professionals in the biophysical sciences with state-of-the-art material required to understand and evaluate the opportunities and technological challenges of soft matter nanotubular assemblies. In the first section, physico-chemical properties of surfactants and surfactant membranes are discussed, the second section is dedicated to the fabrication, properties, and applications of phospholipid bilayer nanotubes, the third section is dedicated to nanotubular structures in biology. Here, several new functions for nanotubes have been found recently, in particular in cell-to-cell communication and transport. The fourth section introduces self-assembled lipid nanotubes and the final section covers aspects of polymer nanotubes, largely based on application examples.

4.2 Self-Assembly of Surfactants Central to almost all biological and biomimetic tubular structures is the fluid boundary, a self-assembled bilayer membrane composed of phosphorylated fatty acid amphiphiles, i.e. lipids (Fig. 4.1). In general, amphiphiles combine a spatially separated hydrophobic and hydrophilic region in the same molecule, enabling spontaneous alignment of the respective regions to form extended supramolecular membrane structures. The morphology of these structures, or aggregates, depends on the shape of the surfactant molecule, which is characterized by a shape factor vch /ao lch , where ao is the interface area occupied by the polar head group, and vch and lch are the volume and length of the hydrocarbon region, respectively. The value of the shape factor determines whether surfactants will form micelles (vch /ao lch < 1/3), non-spherical (globular or cylindrical) micelles (1/3 < vch /ao lch < 1/2), bilayers (1/2 < vch /ao lch < 1), or inverted micelles (vch /ao lch > 1) [1]. In particular, cylindrical micelles are composed of single-chained lipids with small head group areas, while bilayers are formed by double-chained lipids with large head group areas (Fig. 4.1a–c). The most common biological membrane lipids are the phospholipids. Phospholipids consist of a hydrophobic head group which is linked to two hydrophobic hydrocarbon tails though a phosphate group (Fig. 4.1a–d). In most biological membranes, the hydrocarbon tails contain from 10 to 18 carbons per chain,

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Fig. 4.1 Self-assembly of surfactant molecules. (a–d) Molecular structures of some common phospholipids (a) L-α-phosphatidylcholine (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl; egg/chicken), (b) L-α-phosphatidylethanolamine (1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl; plant/soy), (c) L-α-phosphatidylinositol (1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl, sodium salt; plant/soy), (d) L-α-phosphatidic acid (1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl, sodium salt; egg/chicken). (e) Schematic drawing of surfactant molecules, consisting of a hydrophilic head group, and one or two (as it is in the case of phospholipids) hydrophobic tails, i.e. hydrocarbon chains. The kink in the hydrophobic tail represents a cis-double bond in the hydrocarbon chain. Depending on the conditions, surfactant molecules can, for example, self-assemble into bilayers (g), which in turn close up and form vesicles (f), or hollow tubular structures (i) depending on the chemical nature of the aggregate lipids

one of which is unsaturated or branched. Examples of the dominating phospholipids in the plasma membrane of mammalian cells include phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylserine. Due to their cylindrical shape and amphiphilic nature, phospholipids spontaneously form bilayers (Fig. 4.1g). The bilayer is a relatively flat structure, where the hydrophilic head groups are facing the aqueous medium, whereas the hydrophobic tails of the molecules are shielded from the aqueous medium, sandwiched between the hydrophilic head groups. The thickness of phospholipid bilayers is only ∼5 nm. Often, lipid bilayers are considered as molecularly thin 2D sheets, sometimes referred to us as 2D liquids. The term “fluidity” is normally used when describing the diffusion of molecules within a bilayer.

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The lateral diffusion of lipid molecules is rather rapid, with a diffusion constant D in the range of 10–8 –10–10 cm2 /s [2]. In general, the fluidity of a lipid bilayer depends on its composition and on the temperature. Lipid molecules have a strong preference for the lamellar configuration, which is evidenced by the negligible solubility of lipid molecules in water. The extremely low solubility of phospholipids implies almost no exchange of material between the membrane and the solution. The critical aggregate concentration of lipid bilayers is only 10–12 –10–10 M. In this condensed state, lipid membranes have a limited surface compressibility, since compression is opposed by steric interaction between the amphiphiles. For almost all phenomena, the phospholipid membrane can be considered as locally incompressible with great resistance to change in surface density [3, 4]. Several properties of lipid bilayers account for their unique characteristics: fluidity, low solubility and compressibility, flexibility, high resistance to stretching deformation, but no in-plane shear resistance. The chemical structure of the individual lipids, mainly the presence of unsaturated elements within the hydrophobic tails as well as the presence of lipophilic additive compounds, such as cholesterol, tailor the mechanical and chemical properties of a membrane. Membranes assembled through self-association mechanisms can under certain conditions separate portions of the medium they were suspended in, forming spherical compartments (liposomes) with an interior volume isolated from the external medium (Fig. 4.1h). They can also spontaneously form tubular structures (nanotubes) depending on the structure of the lipids (Fig. 4.1i). Numerous other synthetic or semi synthetic amphiphiles with the ability to selfassemble to membrane structures are known, and stabilization strategies such as cross-linking and polymerization of one or more molecular layer(s) also exist. In the following sections of this chapter, mainly phospholipid-based membrane structures are discussed from different points of view, and in the final section, polymerized amphiphile-based nanotubes are covered.

4.3 Mechanically Formed Lipid Nanotubes Lipid nanotubes can be drawn from lipid bilayer membranes by the action of a highly localized mechanical force. The force pulls out a thin membrane cylinder which is generally referred to as a membrane tether or a membrane nanotube. Lipid nanotubes were initially observed when red blood cells, anchored to a glass surface, were exposed to a fluid flow which caused detachment of the cells. However, as the cells were still anchored to the surface, a long membrane tether could be observed extending from the cell body to the substrate surface [5]. In the following years, formation of nanotubes from cells and lipid vesicles has been studied by applying a point-force to their membrane. For example, a nanotube can be pulled using a micrometer-size bead attached to a membrane, manipulated with magnetic [6] or optical tweezers [7, 8], or, alternatively, by hydrodynamic extrusion [9]. Nanotubes can also be formed through adhesion to the tip of an atomic force microscope (AFM)

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cantilever [10], by using a micromanipulation technique [11, 12], or by using motor proteins [13]. These techniques allow for studying properties of bilayer membranes, such as measurements of the membrane bending rigidity [6, 14, 15], and the adhesion energy of the membrane to the cytoskeleton [16, 17]. By pulling membrane tethers with the help of motor proteins, such as kinesin, insights into the range of forces acting during formation and modulation of biological compartments are given [13]. In the same way as artificially formed lipid vesicles are used as a model for studying complex biological membranes, lipid nanotubes can be used to explore properties of tubulo-vesicular cell compartments. Due to their small size (5–300 nm in radius [14, 18]), lipid nanotubes allow for routing of ultra small amounts of materials, down to the level of single molecules, which can be detected and interrogated by means of confocal fluorescence microscopy. Various transportation modes can be employed in lipid nanotubes, such as diffusion, tension-driven transport, and electrophoresis. By using micromanipulation methods, not only membrane nanotubes can be formed, but also rather complex nanotubular networks, including tubulo-vesicular networks [19, 20]. These networks allow for studying dynamic properties of nanotubes, such as their merging, shape transitions, and selforganization behavior. Investigations of shape transformations in lipid nanotubes are especially interesting, since cellular tubulo-vesicular compartments (such as the endoplasmatic reticulum or Golgi apparatus) are dynamic, and continuously undergo shape transformations. All these aspect and properties of lipid nanotubes will be discussed in further details below.

4.3.1 Mechanical Properties of Lipid Nanotubes When a highly localized load is applied to a lipid bilayer membrane vesicle, a membrane nanotube is formed (Fig. 4.2). In experiments, lipid vesicles (or cells) are usually held by aspirating them into a micropipette [14, 21] or by adhesion to a surface [22]. The membrane can be considered as a thin elastic sheet with elastic

Fig. 4.2 Schematic drawings showing formation of a lipid nanotube due to action of a mechanical force. (a) A micrometer-sized bead is attached to a surface of an adhered lipid vesicle. (b) When a pulling force (f) is applied to a bead, a membrane nanotube is formed. The radius of the nanotube is exaggerated for clarity of presentation; the radius of a lipid nanotube is typically more than thousand times smaller than the radius of a vesicle. The equilibrium radius of a nanotube is set by membrane tension and bending rigidity. For the same lipid composition (i.e. the same bending rigidity), the higher the tension (σ1 > σ2 ), the smaller the nanotube radius (c). Cross sections of lipid nanotubes under different tension regimes

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bending as well as surface tension energy. The external pulling force adds a negative mechanical work term to the free energy [23–25]: κ Fnanotube = (4.1) (C1 + C2 − C0 )2 dA+σ A − fl, 2 where κ is the bending rigidity, C1 and C2 are the two principal curvatures of the membrane, C0 is the spontaneous curvature, which is a parameter accounting for a possible asymmetry between the two monolayers (for example, due to different lipid composition in the two monolayers), dA is a surface area element, A is the membrane area, σ is the membrane tension (which is kept constant), f is the force pulling on the tether, and l is the length of the membrane tether. In general, the energy functional also includes a Gaussian curvature term, and a pressure term –pV (where p is the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the membrane, and V is the volume of the vesicle). Since the topology of the membrane is fixed, the Gaussian curvature term can be omitted in the energy minimization. The topology of an object is defined by the genus number (g), which is a measure of the number of holes (or handles) in an object. The pressure term is negligible for lipid nanotubes, and can also be omitted [24, 26]. If both of the leaflets of the bilayer have identical lipid composition, the spontaneous curvature C0 is equal to zero. Under these assumptions, the free energy of a nanotube is κπ l + σ 2π rl − fl (4.2) Fnanotube = 2r 2 where σ A = σ 2π rl is the stretching energy of the nanotube, κ2 ( 1r ) dA= κπr l is the bending energy (one of the principal curvatures is equal to zero and the other is equal to 1r ), and −fl represents the effect of the external force f, that pulls on the tether. Membrane tension exerts a Laplace pressure on the nanotube, which tends to reduce the nanotube radius, while the bending rigidity counteracts this. This results in a = 0) finite equilibrium radius. From Eq. (4.2), the equilibrium radius (at ∂Fnanotube ∂r √ ∂Fnanotube is found to be r0 = κ/2σ , and the equilibrium force (at = 0) is f0 = ∂l √ 2π 2κσ , which can also be expressed as f0 = 2πr0κ or f0 = 4π σ r0 . By taking a typical value of the bending rigidity κ=10–19 J, and membrane tension σ =10–5 N/m, the equilibrium nanotube radius r0 is about 70 nm, and the force f0 is about 9 pN. Experimentally measured forces falls in the range of 3–50 pN, and nanotube radii in the range of 5–300 nm [6, 14, 21]. It has also been shown that the pointforce required to form a nanotube is somewhat larger (about 13%), than the force required to continue pulling a nanotube (with equilibrium radius r0 ) or hold it once it has been formed [25]. In practice, the pulling force is applied not to a single point, but to the membrane patch with a finite area. In this case, a force barrier grows linearly with the size of the membrane area on which the pulling force is exerted [27]. From the membrane tension σ , equilibrium radius r0 , and force f0 , the bending rigidity can be calculated as κ = 2σ r02 or κ =

f02 . 8π 2 σ

Depending on the composition

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of the membrane, the bending modulus varies in the range of 0.2–1 × 10–19 J [14, 28–30], which corresponds to a few kB T, where kB is the Boltzmann constant and T is room temperature. For example, the bilayer bending rigidity is about 11 kB T for diarachidonyl-phosphatidylcholine (diAPC) and digalactosyl-diacylglycerol (diGDG) [29], 11–14 kB T for dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (diMPC) [29, 30], 21 kB T for dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (diOPC) [31], and for the red blood cell plasma membrane the values of bending rigidity are in the range of 8–35 kB T [28, 30, 32]. By doping bilayer membranes with sterols (such as cholesterol, lanosterol, and ergosterol) the membrane rigidity increases, which in turn lead to an increase of the equilibrium radius of nanotubes formed from such membranes [15, 29, 33].

4.3.2 Lipid Nanotubes and Nanotube-Vesicle Networks Micromanipulation methods in combination with microelectroinjection allows not only for pulling membrane nanotubes from lipid vesicles, but also for constructing nanotube-vesicle networks (NVNs), and controlling the interior solution composition of the network [12, 34]. In this method, a micropipette filled with a buffer solution and containing an electrode, is inserted into a lipid vesicle. The insertion is done by applying electric pulses, and simultaneously piercing the vesicles with the micropipette (Fig. 4.3a). When the micropipette tip is inserted into the vesicle, the membrane seals around the micropipette tip. By pulling the micropipette away from the vesicle, a lipid nanotube which connects the pipette tip and the vesicle is created (Fig. 4.3b). If the nanotube is released from the pipette tip, it retracts to the vesicle in order to minimize the total surface area, and therefore the membrane tension. Thus, means for supporting and maintaining lipid nanotubes are required. Such a problem can be resolved by building a NVN, where the nanotubes are maintained by being suspended between the surface-adhered vesicles. Briefly, formation of NVNs can be described as follows. First, giant unilamellar vesicles (a vesicle composed of a single bilayer) attached to multilamellar vesicles are prepared. The lipid mixture commonly used is a soybean lecithin (a polar lipid extract), which is a mixture of phosphatidylcholine (45.7%), phosphatidylethanolamine (22.1%), phosphatidylinositol (18.4%), phosphatidic acid (6.9%), and other lipids (6.9%). The multilamellar vesicle is required as a source for lipid material used for building the network. After formation of a lipid nanotube (Fig. 4.3b), a positive pressure is applied through the micropipette orifice. This leads to injection of a buffer solution, and the formation of a small (daughter) vesicle at the pipette tip (Fig. 4.3c). The newly formed vesicle is then positioned on the surface (Fig. 4.3d). The pipette can be detached from the vesicle by pulling the pipette away from the vesicle and by applying electric pulses at the same time. By repeating this procedure, a nanotube-vesicle network can be formed (Fig. 4.3f). The nanotubes in the network (with typical radius of 100 nm) can consequently conjugate vesicles, or form a multilayer system, and

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Fig. 4.3 Formation of lipid nanotubes, and nanotube-vesicle networks. (a) By applying an electric pulse (10–40 V/cm during ∼1 ms [20]) and piercing the unilamellar liposome with a micropipette, it is possible to penetrate the membrane so that the pipette tip enters the vesicle. The membrane then seals around the micropipette tip. Large and small vesicles correspond to giant unilamellar and multilamellar vesicles, respectively. (b) Pulling of the micropipette away from a vesicle with a force f, creates a membrane nanotube. (c) A positive pressure P is applied through the micropipette. This leads to the injection of buffer solution, and formation of a small (daughter) vesicle at the pipette tip. The size of the daughter vesicle is controlled by the amount of injected liquid. (d) The newly

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be spatially separated in the z-direction (Fig. 4.3f–g). The composition of the buffer solution contained in the micropipette sets the interior solution of the vesicles. Thus, different nodes within a network can initially have different contents. Note, that a NVN is made of a continuous lipid bilayer, and represents a topological sphere. A nanotube-vesicle network is stable for 4–5 h depending on the experimental conditions. However, by careful control of solution and surface conditions, such as addition of water to counteract evaporation and build up of osmotic pressure, and by a proper pre-treatment of surfaces, for example, by coating with a lipid-friendly polymer, such as SU-8 [35], much longer lifetimes can be achieved. A NVN can be forced to change its connectivity, so that the lipid nanotubes are connected by a series of branching points, i.e. three-way junctions. For example, the four-vesicle network in Fig. 4.3f can be forced to rearrange the nanotubes into a network containing two branching points (Fig. 4.3g). Figure 4.3h shows a NVN initially containing six vesicles, and five nanotubes. After tube rearrangement, this network contains four branching points (Fig. 4.3i). These shape transitions are accompanied by formation of unstable nanotube junctions. A detailed explanation for formation and propagation of such junctions is given in the next section. Giant lipid vesicles and lipid nanotubes can be directly observed and manipulated under the optical microscope, using e.g. differential interference contrast (DIC) for contrast enhancement Fig. 4.3j. Fluorescence microscopy in combination with fluorescent labels or membrane stains is also widely used for monitoring and studying NVNs and encapsulated compounds. To be able to track single molecules, a more sensitive fluorescence detection method, such as photon counting, has to be employed.

4.3.3 Self-Organization in Lipid Nanotubes: Zipper Dynamics of Merging Nanotubes Membrane tubulo-vesicular complexes in biological cells are organized into networks that continuously undergo shape transitions, and function as highways for intra-and inter-cellular transport [36, 37]. In such networks, tubular elements are often connected through dynamic three-way junctions [38].

Fig. 4.3 (continued) formed vesicle is then positioned on the surface. (e) The content of the individual vesicles is determined by the composition of the injected solution, which is shown by the different colors of the vesicles. (f) Four-vesicle network with three nanotubes. The inset shows the spatial arrangement of the nanotubes; the nanotubes cross each other at different planes. (g) Forced transition from the initial configuration (f) results in a network where the nanotubes are connected through Y-junctions. (h) A fluorescence micrograph of a six-vesicle network connected by five lipid nanotubes. The nanotubes cross each other at different levels. (i) The same network after a forced shape transition, where the lipid vesicles are connected by a network of lipid nanotubes, containing three-way junctions. Scale bar 15 μm. (j) A schematic drawing showing a microscopy/electroporation system setup for the study of nanotube-vesicle networks

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Fig. 4.4 Three-way nanotube junctions. (a) A schematic drawing of a three-liposome network. The arrows are pointing at the area where the nanotubes are triggered to merge. (b) Merging of the nanotubes results in the formation of an unstable Y∗ -junction; arrow shows the direction of the Y∗ -junction movement. (c) The final, stable Y-state of the network. The nanotubes are connected by a Y-junction, and intersect at angles of 120◦ . (d) Inverted fluorescence micrograph of 3 vesicles connected in a V-shape. The arrows show the location of the tracer particles on the nanotubes. Reprinted with permission from Lobovkina et al. [41]. Copyright 2007 by the American Physical Society. (e) After the junction point is formed, it moves towards a new stable configuration, minimizing the free energy of the system. Here, the first tracer particle has passed the junction point and stays on the lower nanotube, while the second and third particles are still positioned above the Y∗ -junction. (f) As the junction point propagates upwards, the second tracer particle flows through the junction point and gets deposited on the lower nanotube. The distance between the particles 1 and 2 has increased after passing the junction point. (g) The third tracer particle has also passed the junction point. The network reaches the geometry with a minimum of free energy. The nanotubes are straight with angles of 120◦ between them. (h) Numerically calculated shapes of the nanotubes during 3-vesicle network evolution. Z is the height and 2X is the width is of the network. Scale bar 30 μm

To get an insight into the mechanism of propagation of nanotube three-way junction, let us consider a 3-vesicle network (Fig. 4.4a–g) with two nanotubes connected to one of the vesicles in a V-shape. When electric pulses in combination with mechanical force are applied at the surface of the lower vesicle (shown by the arrows in Fig. 4.4a), the two nanotubes come close together. At a critical distance, the nanotubes will merge. Initially, a 3-way junction is created, which connects three nanotubes (Fig. 4.4b, e–f). Such a junction is unstable, and spontaneously moves towards a state with a minimum free energy. A transitional state of the network with an unstable nanotube junction is referred to as a Y∗ -state, and the junction itself is called a Y∗ -junction. Eventually, the network reaches its stable configuration, called the Y-state (Fig. 4.4c, g). The network energy in the Y-state is minimal, which according to Eq. (4.2) is equivalent to the state with minimum total nanotube length. In the Y-state the nanotubes are straight and meet at angles of 120◦ at the Y-junction. The property of the networks to self-generate Y-junctions is one of the main principles for constructing complex nanotubular networks.

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In order to reveal the mechanism of Y∗ -junction propagation, i.e. to understand the flow of lipids during network evolution, the movement of fluorescent heterogeneities or tracer particles on the nanotubes were studied. From such an analysis, it is possible to draw conclusions about the flow of the lipids during network evolution. In Fig. 4.4d–g, a 3-vesicle network containing three tracer particles is shown: the nanotube on the right contains two (1 and 2) tracer particles, and the nanotube on the left contains one (3) tracer particle. The nanotubes are triggered to coalesce by mechanical force, and the movement of the Y∗ -junction together with the tracer particles is monitored. During propagation of the Y∗ -junction, the tracer particles pass the junction and reside on the third (lower) nanotube (Fig. 4.4e, f). It is also observed that the tracer particles preserve their relative order in the y-direction before, and after network evolution (Fig. 4.4d, g). However, the distance between tracer particles 1 and 2 originating from the same nanotube increases after passing the Y∗ -junction. Therefore, it is concluded that the third (lower) nanotube consists of a mixture of lipids coming from the two merging (upper) nanotubes. In other words, the Y∗ -junction is zipping the two upper nanotubes, and thereby builds up the third, lower, nanotube. In order to describe the zipper dynamics of nanotubes, the nanotubes are considered to be analogous to semi-flexible polymers and modeled as strings under tension that are able to merge into one single string at the Y∗ -junction. Using the standard approach for semi-flexible polymers [39], the friction coefficients (per unit length) are assigned for parallel (ζ|| ) and perpendicular (ζ⊥ ) displacement of a point on the string. A first estimate of these friction coefficients is obtained from those of a rigid 2π η and ζ⊥ = 2ζ|| , where l is the length of the tube and η the cylinder: ζ|| = ln(l/r) solvent viscosity. The dynamic equations for the string follow from force balance in the parallel and perpendicular directions: ∂τ , ∂s

(4.3)

ζ⊥ v⊥ = Cτ ,

(4.4)

ζ|| v|| =

where C is the curvature of the string, τ is the string tension, which has the dimensions of energy per unit length, v|| = v|| (x, t) and v⊥ = v⊥ (x, t) are the string velocities in the parallel, and perpendicular directions at the coordinate x and time t, and s is the arch length of the string. Variations in nanotube radii are assumed to be sufficiently small to be neglected. In the following, the network is considered to be close to the equilibrium state, i.e. when the network is approaching the final geometry, such that τ = τ0 + δτ ≈ τ0 where τ0 is the equilibrium string tension of the Y∗ -junction, and δτ is the deviation from the equilibrium tension. The shape of the upper nanotubes is parameterized with coordinates [x, h = h(x, t)] with the origin at the lower vesicle-nanotube junction (Fig. 4.4h). The shape of the upper nanotube in terms of h is h = heq + u, where u = u(x, t) is the deviation from the equilibrium shape, heq = Z + √1 (|x| − X). Here the height of the Y-junction network is denoted 3 by Z and the width by 2X (Fig. 4.4h). For u 1). The results may also be important in applications where templates are required for giving complex shapes to polymer gels by solidifying the interior of the nanotubes.

4.3.5 Diffusion in Nanotube-Vesicle Networks Hydrodynamics in micrometer-sized liquid systems is over damped, i.e. inertia effects can safely be neglected as viscous forces are dominant. Thus, on the micrometer-scale and below, an object comes to rest right after the driving force stops [48]. Under most circumstances, the flow of liquid surrounding membrane nanotubes, and the fluid flow of the membrane itself, both represent laminar flows. In the absence of convective mixing and other forces that may induce transport of particles trapped in the nanotubes (such as tension-driven transport or electrophoresis), diffusion is the only mode of transporting, and mixing particles in the solution contained inside NVNs. There are three characteristic time scales governing the behavior of diffusing particles in nanotube-vesicle networks. These time scales depend on the geometry of the network and are discussed below. First, let us consider a single lipid vesicle with radius R, containing particles (or molecules). The time it takes for a particle to explore all volume elements of 2 sphere = RD , where D is the diffusion a container is given by the mixing time, tmix coefficient. Released at some point, the particle can be found with equal probability sphere anywhere in the volume after the time lapse tmix [49]. The second characteristic time scale is the time needed for a particle to cross a tube = l2 . In NVNs, the nanotube length is typically longer nanotube with length l, tmix D than the radius of a vesicle. However, their values are often of the same order of magnitude (typically 50 μm vs. 10 μm, respectively). Therefore, the correspondsphere tube and will be denoted ing mixing times are comparable to each other tmix ∼ tmix by tmix . The third important time parameter is the traffic time, which is the characteristic time needed for a particle to encounter an immobilized target. For a particle diffusing inside a vesicle, this target is represented by the nanotube entrance. The R3 , where r is the radius of the nanotube traffic time can be estimated as ttraffic = Dr

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Fig. 4.9 Diffusion relaxation of particles inside a two-vesicle network. (a) Schematic drawing showing the initial state of the network, where one of the vesicles is filled with particles. (b) Diffusion of the particles through the nanotube smears out the concentration gradient. (c) Fluorescence micrograph of three interconnected vesicles filled with fluorescein. Vesicles 2 and 3 are photobleached by laser illumination. Dashed lines show the contours of the vesicles and the nanotubes. (d)–(e) Diffusion of fluorescein from vesicle 1 through the network at 5 and 10 min after photobleaching. The poor fluorescence recovery is due to bleaching and leakage of fluorescein. (f) Graph showing normalized fluorescence intensity plotted versus time. Scale bar, 10 μm. Reprinted with permission from Sott et al. [52], Copyright 2007 by the American Chemical Society

(i.e. target) [49]. The traffic time is related to the mixing time as ttraffic ∼ Rr tmix [49]. For a vesicle with radius R ∼ 10 μm, and a nanotube radius r ∼ 100 nm, the ratio R r >> 1, yielding tmix ∼ 0.7 μm) connecting primary macrophages were found to contain f-actin as well as microtubules [37]. Microtubules were also found in intercellular bridges between prostate cancer cells [70]. Presence of structural proteins inside intercellular membrane nanotubes most likely make them more rigid than nanotubes mechanically formed from model membranes. Interestingly, Y-junctions has been shown to contain f-actin [37] and, thus, to get a mechanistic understanding of membrane nanotubes between cells, one would have to consider the driving forces behind both the lipid flow and that of the remodeling of f-actin. Various objects have been observed to move along membrane nanotubes, including bulges (Fig. 4.13), lipid vesicles, such as endosomes and lyosomes, and cell organelles, such as mitochondria, membrane proteins, virus particles and bacteria [37, 67, 68, 70, 71, 73]. Rustom reported that small organelles belonging to the endosomal/lysosomal system could be transported unidirectionally inside TNTs connecting PC12 cells. Remarkably, these vesicles were observed to move in a manner indicating that TNTs could allow passage of organelles from one cell to the next. Furthermore, in the same study, green fluorescent protein (GFP) anchored to the plasma membrane through fusion with the farnesylation signal of c-HA-Ras was observed to move along the surface of a nanotube from a donor cell onto a connected target cell [68]. Thus, these observations suggest that TNTs could under some circumstances serve as conduits for intercellular transport of whole organelles and membrane components by forming seamless bridges between connected cells. However, this is not undisputed since it was recently shown that membrane nanotubes connecting T cells instead have a distinct junction, across which membrane molecules did not transfer efficiently Sowinski [73]. The fact that membrane nanotubes between cells contain structural proteins makes these nanotubes particular in another aspect. F-actin as well as microtubules

Fig. 4.13 Formation and transport of bulges along membrane nanotubes. (a) Microscope images showing that two HEK 293T cells, stained overnight with separate fluorescent lipids, DiD (white) or DiO (not shown) are connected by a membrane nanotube. Bright-field and fluorescence images indicate that this nanotube originated from the cell on the right. As the nanotube was stretched, a large bulge, 4 μm across, formed along the nanotube (b). Bright-field and DiD fluorescence time-lapse images show that the bulge (arrowhead) moved towards, and fused with the cell on the right. (c) Graph of the distance between the bulge and the cell on the right as a function of time. The sloped lines drawn in the graph indicates that the bulge slows down as it approaches the cell it eventually fuses with

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can serve as tracks for transport of molecular cargo carried by motor proteins such as myosin (moving along f-actin) or kinesin, and dynein (both moving along microtubules). Indeed, myosin VI were found to be present inside TNTs, and in close proximity to lipid vesicles, indicating that transport of lipid vesicles is driven by motor proteins [68]. Furthermore, calcium signals have been observed to propagate through groups of myeloid-lineage dendritic cells and monocytes networked by membrane nanotubes [69]. These results indicate that signaling through nanotubes could function to activate cells that are distal to a triggering antigen, which could facilitate and enhance an efficient immune response. It remains an outstanding goal in biology to understand how cells exchange materials and communicate with each other to collectively perform functions that give the organism its properties. Transport through membrane nanotubes represent a novel mechanism that could allow for formation of supra cellular structures where nutrients, genetic material and signaling molecules could be efficiently shared between connected cells [65]. Furthermore, similar to filopodial bridges [74], membrane nanotubes may play a general role in infection since a nanotube network could be exploited for efficient cell-to-cell spread of pathogens. Indeed, it was recently reported that HIV-1 could be transmitted via membrane nanotubes formed between infected and previously uninfected T cells [73]. Such a pathway of transmission may in part sidestep current therapeutic strategies, e.g. treatment with monoclonal antibodies or by vaccination- mediated antibody response. Future challenges involves finding the role of membrane nanotubes in vivo and solving the structure of membrane nanotube – cell body junctions to understand under what conditions the membranes of different cells are allowed to fuse and if there is a “gate keeping” mechanism selecting what cargo can be exchanged between cells.

4.4.2 Membrane Tethers Formed During Leukocyte Rolling Leukocytes, or white blood cells, circulate and defend the body against infections and foreign material. As leukocytes reach a site of infection, they can leave the blood flow and traverse the vessel walls in a process called transendothelial migration or diapedesis. Leukocytes adhere transiently with activated endothelial cells and “roll” along the walls of blood vessels continuously making and breaking contact. This initial adhesion is supported by selectin proteins expressed by the endothelium and cognate ligands on the leukocyte. This interaction with the vessel walls is believed to yield the leukocytes time for further signal integration that can lead to migration arrest and diapedesis when inflamed tissue is reached. The lifetime of the selectin bond is sensitive to the shear stress caused by the blood flow and in theories only taking the strength of the selectin bond into account, predict that increased blood flow rapidly should increase the rolling speed, and eventually cause detachment of the leukocyte [75]. However, in vivo leukocytes are observed to roll in a fairly steady speed over a wide range of shear stresses at the blood vessel walls [76], suggesting

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the existence of a mechanism that counterbalance the force generated by increased blood flow. When leukocytes are exposed to an external flow and allowed to roll along a layer of endothelial cells, they deform and extend thin membrane tethers or membrane nanotubes that connect the cells together [77]. Such tethers also form when leukocytes are rolling on a surface coated with platelets or P-selectin [78], and the number of tethers increase with increased shear stress [79]. Interestingly, formation of these tethers act to decrease the pulling force imposed on adhesive bonds [80], and cells forming nanotubes exhibit slower and more uniform rolling velocities [79]. Thus, extension of nanotubes connecting the leukocyte with the endothelium contributes to the mechanism that dampens the response to variations in blood flow. Recent data also suggest that membrane tethers, expressing high levels of the integrins ICAM-1, and VCAM-1, extending from the endothelial cells are important for diapedesis of leukocytes [77]. In addition, micropipette experiments have characterized membrane tethers extracted from endothelial cells with the conclusion that if the endothelium extends tethers in parallel with those extended from the leukocyte it could contribute significantly to the stabilizing effect observed for the rolling process [81, 82]. Thus, it is becoming increasingly recognized that intercellular membrane nanotubes are important structures involved in several steps of leukocyte recruitment to sites of inflammation.

4.4.3 Intracellular Membrane Nanotubes Membranous tubular structures are important for intracellular transport of proteins between the Golgi network and endosomes [83], the endoplasmatic reticulum (ER) [84, 85], as well as the plasma membrane (PM) [86]. Shuttling of membrane proteins from the Golgi network to the PM is mediated by transport of elongated membranous containers called Golgi-to-plasma-membrane-carriers (GPCs) along microtubules. Recent results have shown that formation of GPCs is preceded by extension of membrane nanotubes from the trans-Golgi network, which are subsequently pinched off to generate one or several GPCs [86]. Similarly, extensive tubular networks connecting the ER with the Golgi have been observed to form in a microtubule-dependent manner [84, 85]. These networks could serve as transport channels of both soluble and membrane-bound material, predominantly in the direction from the ER to the Golgi. Thus, it is emerging that membrane nanotubular structures are important for transport between different intracellular membrane compartments. It has been hypothesized that the initial extrusion process of tubular structures could be caused by microtubule-based motor proteins mechanically pulling a tether from the donor membrane, a process that has been shown to be possible in experiments with giant liposomes [13]. However, to accomplish selectivity in what is transported by these structures the mechanism of formation is likely to be rather complex and regulated by several parameters [84, 86].

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4.4.4 Membrane Nanotubes Mechanically Drawn from the Cell Membrane In order to gain further insight into the mechanical properties of membrane nanotubes, experiments have been performed where tethers are mechanically pulled from the cell surface. Such experiments have been done using a range of different cell types including endothelial cells [81], neurons [17], fibroblasts [87], and red blood cells [88]. These experiments are important since they allow for measuring various biophysical properties of the plasma membrane, e.g. adhesion forces at the interface between the cytoskeleton and the plasma membrane [17, 87], and how tether formation depend on the nature, and specificity of the mediating interaction [10, 81]. Further knowledge about these parameters will increase the understanding of processes such as leukocyte rolling and TNTs mediated intercellular communication. Not only membrane tethers can be pulled out of biological cells, but also nanotube-vesicle networks can be formed by using plasma membrane of cultured cells. [89]. In these experiments, a combination of dithiothreitol and formaldehyde was applied to produce micron-sized plasma membrane vesicles, i.e. blebs. From these blebs, nanotubes can be pulled and NVNs can be created, Fig. 4.14. These experiments allow for preserving the transmembrane proteins in their natural environment. Under such conditions, membrane proteins maintain their correct orientations in the membrane matrix, which is important when studying, e.g., transport phenomena across cell membranes.

Fig. 4.14 Differential interference contrast microscopy of adherent cells (NG108-15 cells), displaying membrane blebs, from which a nanotube-vesicle connection is formed. The inset is a schematic drawing of a bleb-nanotube junction. The membrane proteins are imbedded in the membrane. Reprinted with permission from Bauer et al. [89]. Copyright 2007 by the American Chemical Society

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4.5 Self-Assembled Lipid Nanotubes The nanotubes discussed so far are either a result of careful manipulation of fluid lipid bilayers in the laboratory or a result of biological activity, i.e., formation of TNTs. In both instances, however, nanotubes are formed from essentially planar bilayers which prefer to form spherical, not tubular, aggregates. The tubular morphology must be stabilized, for example, by immobilizing the vesicles on surfaces as discussed above or by chemical crosslinking. Interestingly, there are a few lipid classes that can form tubular membrane aggregates spontaneously, without external interaction. Alternatively, and often as a transitional morphology between sphere and tube, helical or twisted membrane ribbons appear. In this section we first summarize the empirical knowledge of how and in which systems this lipid nanotube self-assembly process occurs, then we will give a condensed picture of our (still incomplete) theoretical understanding of why it takes place and, finally, we will give some examples of how the spontaneously formed nanotubes can be put to use technologically, and how they might play a role in biology. Our aim is to give an easy-to-read introduction to the phenomenon and its implications. More detailed accounts with broader scopes can be found in a few comprehensive reviews [90–92].

4.5.1 The Empirical Knowledge on Lipid Nanotube Self-Assembly In the mid 1980s, an American [93] and a Japanese [94, 95] group independently reported the unexpected observation of lipid bilayer aggregates changing morphology from spherical vesicle to tubules or helicoidally curling or twisting ribbons (Fig. 4.15) when cooling the systems past the temperature where the bilayers change liquid crystal phase from the high-symmetry Lα phase to the low-symmetry Lβ´ phase (see below). The phenomenon was found to be fully reversible on heating back into Lα (Fig. 4.15b). The membranes of most phospholipids do not exhibit such a morphology change as a result of the Lα – Lβ´ transition. Among those that do (some of which are depicted in Fig. 4.15) we can identify two structural characteristics which seem to be of particular importance for the phenomenon. First, as in the case of the diacetylene-containing phospholipid DC8,9 PC (molecule 1 in Fig. 4.16, the single most studied compound in this context), a kink in the hydrophobic chain is often present. Sometimes the molecule may be bent rather than kinked, as in molecule 3 in Fig. 4.16. Such a kink or bend has important consequences for the way molecules pack, certain angles between adjacent molecules often being highly preferable [90, 96, 97]. This tendency is particularly enhanced in the Lβ´ phase where the molecules are tilted with respect to the bilayer normal. The tilt together with the common kink/bend direction gives the membrane a two-fold tangential director field in the plane of the membrane and this turns out to have an important impact on which aggregate morphologies that can be expected, as discussed below. Moreover, the three axes defined by layer normal, tilt direction and kink/bend direction give this type of phase a full coordinate system, thus a handedness (right- or left-handed). In other words, the appearance of tilt and a preferred

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Fig. 4.15 Examples of structures encountered in lipid nanotube self-assembly. a, b (Reprinted with permission from Thomas et al. [120]. Copyright 2007 by the American Physical Society.): On cooling an aqueous DC8,9 PC (see Fig. 4.16, subfigure 1) dispersion from the Lα to the Lβ´ phase, transitional helical ribbons sprout from the initially present vesicles (a). Tens of minutes later the helical ribbons have disappeared and been replaced by tubules, which upon heating back into the Lα phase change into spherical vesicles (b). c (Reprinted with permission from Selinger and Schnur [133]. Copyright 2007 by the American Physical Society.): The surface of lipid nanotubules is often decorated with a helical ribbon pattern, which here is enhanced by the adsorption of colloidal particles at ribbon boundaries. (d) (Reprinted with permission from Kamiya et al. [107]. Copyright 2007 by the American Chemical Society.): Thin nanotubes without helical decoration formed from an aqueous dispersion of molecules shown in Fig. 4.16, subfigure 3. (e), (f) (Reprinted with permission from Jin et al. [102]. Copyright 2007 by the National Academy of Science, USA): Thin nanotubes (e) and helical ribbon (f) formed by the hexabenzocoronene-based amphiphile shown in Fig. 4.16, subfigure 5. (g) (Reprinted with permission from John et al. [108]. Copyright 2007 by the Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.): Twisted ribbon formed by the saturated single-chain amphiphile, shown in Fig. 4.16, subfigure 4

direction of the kink/bend constitutes a spontaneous breaking of mirror symmetry, rendering the membrane chiral, regardless of if the constituent molecules are chiral or not [98, 99]. The second important recurring characteristic is exceptionally strong intermolecular interactions within the membrane plane, due to hydrogen bonding as in 2 [94, 100, 101] or aromatic π-π-stacking as in 4 and 5 [102–105] in Fig. 4.16. This gives the membrane a particularly high translational order along the bilayer normal, i.e. the out-of-layer fluctuations of molecules are suppressed. Actually, a kink or bend in the molecule structure has exactly the same effect, as evidenced in the field of bent-shaped thermotropic liquid crystals [106], hence we can expect also the membranes of molecules 1 and 3 in Fig. 4.16 to be highly ordered in this sense. Summarizing, it seems an amphiphile optimized for nanotube self-assembly should at least be designed for strongly correlated membrane bilayers, suppressing out-oflayer molecular fluctuations either by strong lateral intermolecular interactions or via a bent or kinked chain shape.

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Fig. 4.16 Two of the oldest nanotube-forming lipids (1 DC8 ,9 PC, 1,2-bis(tricosa-10,12diynoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine [93], and 2 2C12 -L-Glu-C11 N+ [94]) as well as three more recent examples (3 N-(11-cis-octadecenoyl)-β-D-glucopyranosylamine [107], 4 1-O-3 -n(pentadecyl)phenyl-glucopyranoside [108], 5; X is either H for the achiral version or CH3 for the chiral one [102])

The tubules are generally quite monodisperse in terms of diameter – ranging from less than 50 nm [92, 94, 95, 100, 102–105, 107, 109–111] to a few micrometers [93, 101, 112–115] depending on the system – but the length can vary relatively much in one and the same sample, from a few to hundreds of micrometers. With time, a few methods have been developed to influence the length, and its distribution width [96, 116]. Reported wall thicknesses range from a single bilayer to tens of layers, depending on the initial lipid concentration [96], and the tubes are generally open-ended [93, 107, 117]. Sometimes liposomes are, however, found encapsulated inside the tubes [118]. The yield in the morphology conversion was early on found to depend on the size of the initial aggregates: vesicles smaller than a certain limiting size remained even when the system was in the Lβ´ phase, whereas larger vesicles were all consumed by tubules [118]. One of the most important geometrical parameters to control is the tube diameter, the initially found tubules with diameters of 0.5–1 μm being too large for

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many purposes. Success has been reached only relatively recently. The many signs of relevance of chirality in the spontaneous tubule formation rapidly gave rise to theoretical models (discussed further below) predicting that the tube diameter is a direct function of molecular chirality, the diameter diverging in case of racemic samples. This was soon experimentally demonstrated not to be correct, several racemic (and even achiral) samples producing nanotubes with the same diameter as related chiral lipids [97, 117, 119]. A more successful route turned out to be to vary the structures of the molecules involved, in particular mixing amphiphiles of quite different character, e.g. with stiff unsaturated and flexible saturated acyl chains, respectively [103, 108–110]. This strategy has led to the considerable reduction in nanotube diameter seen the last few years. The unsaturated bent glucopyranosylamide lipid 3 and the hexabenzocoronene-based gemini amphiphile 5 (Fig. 4.16) and its modifications are examples of the relatively rare case that very thin tubes have been formed using a single amphiphile type, Fig. 4.15d, e. Looking at the bilayer thickness compared to the molecule length in each of these cases [102, 104, 105, 107], it seems that the molecule tilt in the bilayer must be exceptionally high. As discussed in the next subsection, this may be important for achieving the small tube diameter. Initially, all experiments were done by preparing a vesicular aqueous dispersion of the lipid in the Lα phase and then cooling it past the liquid crystal phase transition, whereupon the vesicles were replaced by tubes. The time required varied greatly, the most commonly studied DC8,9 PC system being fast (helix formation time scale of seconds and tube equilibrium after tens of minutes [120]) while in other cases the process could take hours, days or even weeks to complete [94, 121]. As it was discovered that tubules would precipitate out of a low-concentration (on the order of mg/mL) solution of DC8,9 PC in alcohol if water was added, an alternative production route was established, allowing tubule production on a time scale of seconds or minutes [118]. This procedure, which avoids the initial ordinary vesicle morphology, was highly optimized over time, to the extent that a protocol for achieving quite long high-quality tubes with exactly two bilayers of DC8,9 PC in the walls could be identified [96]. While the precipitation method is attractive due to its speed it seems to generally produce thicker nanotubes. Most reports of high-quality nanotubes of small diameter instead follow the initial method [103, 107, 108, 110], the hexabenzocoronene-based 5 (Fig. 4.16) again constituting an exception. Here, precipitation from solutions in tetrahydrofuran (THF) or similar solvents turned out to be the method of choice, yielding nanotubes with ∼15–20 nm diameter [102, 105]. In these cases, the presence of water in the initial solution should actually be avoided, as this produces helical ribbons along with the nanotubes [104]. The recurring observation of chiral superstructures among the self-assembled products gives a strong hint that chirality plays an important role in spontaneous nanotube formation. Helical/twisted ribbon structures (Fig. 4.15f, g) are found mainly in freshly formed samples, whereas seamless tubes tend to dominate after long time, but also these generally have visible helical markings on them (Fig. 4.15c), the exception being tubes with particularly small diameter (500 nm.

6.4.3 Artificial Nanopores from the Track-Etch Method Base etching of silicon wafers [88] and track etching of polymer membranes [40–48] are other methods that have been used to fabricate single nanopores. The nanopore work discussed here has utilized the track-etch method to prepare conically-shaped nanopores in polymer membranes. Compared to other singlenanopore fabrication techniques, the track-etch method is relatively simple and straightforward. Most importantly, the tracked membrane that is used to make the nanopore (see below) can be obtained commercially from Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany.

6.5 Fabrication of Artificial Nanopores in Polymer Membranes The Track-Etch Method. The track-etch method has been practiced commercially for decades to prepare multi-pore membranes that are used, for example, for filtration applications or as templates for the deposition of other materials. This method allows for micro- and nano-meter sized pores to be prepared with various dimensions and geometries. Membranes prepared by the track-etch method are created by first bombarding the membranes with a beam of high-energy particles (>1 MeV/nucleon) from a nuclear reactor or cyclotron (Fig. 6.5a). This process creates linear damage tracks that span the entire thickness of the membrane, which is typically 5–10 μm (Fig. 6.5b). The damage tracks are then chemically etched to create the pores (Fig. 6.5c). In the commercial process, the ion-tracked membrane is simply immersed into the etching solution, and the damage tracks are etched

linear damage tracks

irradiation with swift, heavy ions

a

etched tracks

b

c

Fig. 6.5 Principle of the ion-track etching technique. (a) Swift, heavy ions accelerated through membrane material. (b) Heavy ions form damage tracks as they pass through the material. (c) Selective, chemical etching results in a membrane containing pores or channels [40]

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from both faces of the membrane (isotropic etching). This yields cylindrical pores through the membrane; the pore diameter is determined by the type of material, concentration of etchant, etching time and etchant temperature. The pore density is determined by the exposure time to the particle beam. Multi-pore membranes with pore diameters ranging from 10 nm to 10 μm and pore densities ranging from 105 to 109 pores/cm2 are commercially available [95]. For resistive-pulse sensing applications it is necessary to obtain membranes containing only a single damage track. A procedure for preparing such singletrack membranes was developed at Gesellschaft fur Schwerionenforschung (GSI) in Darmstadt, Germany. They use a defocused heavy ion beam to irradiate the polymer membrane with a single ion [42]. Single-ion irradiation is achieved by placing a shutter in between the ion beam and the membrane and an ion detector behind the membrane. When the ion detector registers that a single ion has traversed the membrane the shutter is closed, thus precluding any further exposure of the membrane to the beam. For reasons that will be discussed in detail below, conically-shaped nanopores are particularly advantageous for resistive-pulse sensing. The etching process for preparing such conically-shaped nanopores was first developed by Apel et al. [43]. In this process, the single ion-tracked membrane is first placed between two halves of the same electrochemical cell described above (Fig. 6.2) [43]. An etching solution is added to one side of the cell and a stopping solution is added to the other side. The damage track is preferentially etched from the face of the membrane in contact with the etching solution. When the etchant breaks through to the other side of the membrane the stopping solution neutralizes the etchant. The etching process is stopped by placing the nanopore membrane in water or the stopping solution. The resulting nanopore is conical in shape with the large-diameter (base) opening facing the etch solution and the small-diameter (tip) opening facing the stopping solution (Fig. 6.6).

Polymer membrane

Base opening

Fig. 6.6 Schematic of a conical nanopore in a polymer membrane showing the base diameter and tip diameter (drawing not to scale) [46]

Tip opening

Conical Nanopore

Fig. 6.7 Plot of current versus time during the first step, anisotropic etching of a conical nanopore. The moment of breakthrough is marked by the sudden rise in current

L.T. Sexton et al. Nanopore ion current (nA)

176 0.8 0.6 Breakthrough

0.4 0.2 0.0 0

20

40 60 80 100 120 Etch time (min)

During the etching process platinum wire electrodes are placed on either side of the membrane and a potential is applied. The electrodes are arranged so that the anode is in the half-cell containing the etch solution. The applied transmembrane potential serves several purposes. It provides a means for monitoring the transmembrane current during etching, thereby allowing the determination of when the etchant has broken through the polymer membrane. Initially the current is zero, however, breakthrough is marked by a sudden increase in the ionic current (Fig. 6.7). The steady increase in transmembrane current is associated with an increase in the diameter of the tip opening as the etch proceeds. After breakthrough, the applied potential also causes an electro-stopping process to occur [43]. To understand this process, consider the case of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). The etching solution used for PET is 9 M NaOH and the stopping solution is 1 M formic acid and 1 M KCl. Placing the anode in the etch solution causes the OH– etchant to be electrophoretically driven away from the nanopore tip opening – electro-stopping. This process further promotes the asymmetry, or conical shape of the nanopore, thus allowing for nanopores with very small tip diameters to be prepared ( 0.49 [28] and ν ∼ = 0.45 [29]. A value of ν = 0.49 was used in modelling and analysis described here.

7.2.2 Actuation Devices and Fluid Cells Resizing of pores is achieved by macroscopic actuation of the cruciform using pegs placed in the holes at the ends of the four arms. In experiments to date, actuation

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(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 7.2 (a) Photograph of a cruciform. (b) Schematic plan (upper) and sectional (lower) views of a cruciform, as manufactured at the time of writing. Cruciforms are mostly 0.8 mm thick. Material within ∼5 mm of the end of the cruciform arms, near the holes used for actuation, is ∼1.5 mm thick. The central septum has diameter 2.8 mm and is 250 μm thick. (c) Cartesian (x, y, z) and cylindrical polar (r, θ, z) co-ordinates, defined in the same plane as shown in the plan and sectional (lower) views. For both co-ordinate systems, the origin is at the nanopore opening on the lower surface of the cruciform

has been symmetric: displacement of the pegs was equal for the four arms. Internal hole surfaces that are furthest from the centre of the cruciform are separated by a distance X across opposite arms. The value of X at zero applied stress is X0 . For a pristine, resting cruciform, X = X0 = 41.5 mm. Extensional strain α is defined as α=

X − 1. X0

(7.1)

Actuation units can be hand-powered, or automated using a motorised drive. Handpowered units (such as the Izon qNano) can be small and portable, and produce

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Table 7.1 Material properties of elastomeric TPUs used in tunable nanopore manufacture, as listed by the manufacturers [30, 31] and converted to SI units. All three polymers are polyetherbased TPUs

Property

ASTMa test method

Unit

Elastollan 1160D

Elastollan 1195A

Stevens ST-1522FS-85

Specific gravity Hardness

D792 D2240

g cm–3 Shore A

1.17 ∼100b

1.14 95

1.12 85

Tensile stress @ 100% elongation @ 300% elongation

D412 D412

MPa MPa

22 33

12 21

5.5c 11c

At break: Tensile stress Elongation Set E-Modulus

D412 D412 D412 D638

MPa – – MPa

40 415% 60% 200d

36 490% 65% 51.7

45c 500%c 25%c –

a American

Society for Testing and Materials. D hardness of 60. c Obtained using ASTM method D638. d Obtained using ISO method 527. b Shore

less electronic noise. Nanopores are typically used in a liquid environment, requiring a fluid cell (e.g. Fig. 7.3) which prevents evaporation and contamination, while facilitating actuation. High resolution ionic current measurement is required for nanopore experiments. For example, the typical current change caused by a DNA translocation is ∼100 pA. Currents can be measured using precision instrumentation such as a patch clamp amplifier in conjunction with a digitiser unit. Commercial

Fig. 7.3 Schematic cross section of a typical fluid cell used with tunable nanopores, in which solution can be added to the upper fluid cell. Pores can inverted (cis-surface upwards), and surface tension prevents leakage along the membrane surfaces. Labelled parameters (applied pressure P (= P1 –P0 ), applied voltage V0 , pore length l and conical radii a and b) apply for the conical geometry assumed and discussed in Section 7.3.3

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Izon equipment includes Ag/AgCl electrodes built into shielded fluid cells, coupled with electronics so that the typical RMS noise during operation is less than 10 pA. An important recent addition to commercial Izon apparatus is the variable pressure module (VPM), which enables a precisely measurable pressure difference to be applied across the membrane [4, 5].

7.2.3 Mechanical Properties of Thermoplastic Polyurethanes Material and mechanical properties are a key consideration for tunable nanopores. The most relevant aspects of this complex topic will be introduced here. Texts providing detailed descriptions of these properties range from high-level summaries and mechanical toolboxes (e.g. [32]) to modern texts dealing with advanced mechanical models of polymer microstructure [33, 34]. Elastomers approximate the simple behaviour of an ideal rubber, which is elastic, isotropic and incompressible. If deformation is independent of strain rate, this idealized deformation is “hyperelastic”, and the stress-strain curve may be non-linear. Schematic stress-strain curves for elastomers and similar materials are shown in Fig. 7.4. Rubbers and elastomers (including TPUs) typically have a continuous, near-linear stress-strain relation which does not indicate yield. When considering actuation of an elastomeric cruciform at strains up to ∼30%, much less than strain at failure (Table 7.1), yield and failure are not relevant. The curve shape can be described using a linear elastic (Hookean) relation with Young’s modulus E, σ = Ee.

Fig. 7.4 Schematic stress–strain curves for tensile extension of pristine material from zero strain at constant strain rate, following Painter and Coleman [32]. The local maximum in the curve for a non-glassy polymer (e.g. polythene) indicates yield, at which point irreversible damage weakens the material. Terminal failure occurs at the end of each curve. TPUs fail at ∼500% strain (Table 7.1); the dotted line represents the Hookean approximation over ∼100% elongation

(7.2)

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Use of Eq. (7.2) to model the stress-strain behaviour in Fig. 7.4 is clearly a simplistic approximation. In most materials, Hooke’s law is only applicable for small strains. More complicated hyperelastic models, for example the Mooney-Rivlin model, can give a closer fit to the curve. First attempts at analysis and modelling presented here and in [3] assume linear elasticity (Eq. 7.2). In practice, elastomers are non-ideal rubbers which exhibit some viscoelasticity, volume change and permanent deformation or “set” (Table 7.1), especially following loading to large strains. For tunable nanopores, deviations from linear elastic behaviour are most important for near-pore material, which is loaded to high strains during fabrication, and critically affects cruciform actuation at low strains. A viscoelastic material retains elements of both viscous and elastic behaviour. R 1195A has been studied in a series of The viscoelasticity of Elastollan experiments. Apparatus included a light horizontal shaft clamped to the test sample at one end. At the other end was a load cell (S beam, 25 kg, Model 60001, EMC, Auckland) in parallel with a linear displacement transducer (RS Type DC15, LVDT, Radio Spares, Auckland). Samples were held in a constant temperature environment (± 2◦ C) during each experiment, because TPU rigidity decreases with increasing temperature [32]. Loads were applied using weights suspended from a wire cable. Changes in cruciform length have been recorded following the application or release of stress. In Fig. 7.5a, a cruciform is stretched to a constant displacement for 2 h, then released to zero stress. Immediately following load release, the displacement falls sharply, but continues to fall after 16 h. The relaxation time constant is about 30 s. Figure 7.5b shows the residual displacement 30 min after load release over a wide range of extension times. This log–log plot reveals two linear

(a)

(b)

Fig. 7.5 Results from experiments at 20◦ C in which clamps holding pristine TPU cruciforms, initially at ∼32 mm spacing, were stretched by 20 mm in one direction, and held at constant displacement for some time before being released to zero stress. (a) Time variation of displacement and load for a particular experiment. (b) A log–log plot of residual extension 30 min after load release, following various periods of extension. Straight lines are fitted to the data for less than 120 s extension (solid line, gradient = 0.091) and greater than 300 s extension (dotted line, gradient = 0.152)

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portions with separate power law dependencies. The transition occurs at ∼100 s extension. The effects of cyclical extension and relaxation of elastomers are of particular relevance. Permanent deformation is related to the Mullins effect [35–37], an empirical description of stress softening in rubber-like materials. The Mullins effect is seen when an elastomer undergoes stretching (including biaxial stretching [38]) cycles between zero applied stress and a certain maximum strain. After a number of cycles (usually between 3 and 10, depending on the material), the stress-strain curve becomes repeatable, as long as the material is not further extended beyond the maximum strain. This repeatable behaviour can be considered approximately elastic. The Mullins effect “reflects configurational changes within the fine structure of the material which permits subsequent deformation to take place more readily” [39]. Real materials exhibit a non-ideal Mullins effect, with creep and a relatively small degree of inelastic stretching observed in continued cycles. However, if cruciforms are pre-cycled prior to use, a working range of strains is established in which pore actuation is reasonably well characterised and controllable [2]. Measurements to assess the Mullins effect for TPU are shown in Fig. 7.6. The data show that the load required to achieve the target displacement fell by about 5% after the first extension cycle. Following 10 cycles, the load converged to a final value some 10% less than the initial load required for the same displacement. Prior to convergence, the total time at high extension was about 100 s, approximately the same as the crossover extension time in the creep measurement. It would appear that the initial linear portion of the curve in Fig. 7.5b represents irreversible deformation

Fig. 7.6 Cyclical stress-strain curves for uniaxial extension across opposite arms of a cruciform. Measurements were obtained using an Instron 1,122 Tensile Testing Machine, fitted with a 10 kg load cell. Crosshead speed was 50 mm min–1 , initial jaw separation was 30 mm, and the final tensile set was ∼2 mm

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equivalent to repeated cycling, while the latter portion represents a different long time-scale behaviour. To complete this section, we consider the choice of material for elastomeric nanopores. Apart from being readily available, TPUs provide two significant advantages. Firstly, they can be used over a wide range of strains, allowing actuation of estimated pore radius over an order of magnitude in response to ∼30% macroscopic strain, as demonstrated in Section 7.3. Secondly, reproducibility can be enhanced by cycling the pristine material prior to use. Nevertheless, actuation of TPUs is difficult to precisely quantify due to viscoelasticity, and creep could be important for some applications. Control of nanopore size, shape and morphology are important for precise and specialized applications, and are also likely to be important in future selection of materials.

7.2.4 Failure and Structure of TPUs The failure of nanopore materials is a critical consideration, because failure mechanisms determine pore shape and the properties of pore walls. Failure modes are most strongly related to material brittleness (or ductility). Elastomers are very ductile, requiring a large degree of energy to be absorbed prior to failure. On macroscopic length scales, it is sufficient to know that failure occurs via “ductile tearing” rather than brittle fracture. In the present case, we are concerned with micro- to nanoscale failure morphologies in the region adjacent to failure. Failure morphologies for TPUs can vary widely, depending on elastomer composition [40]. Although rubbers and elastomers do not typically yield (Fig. 7.4), the plateau in the stress-strain curve can be attributed to rearrangement of polymer chains and lamellae in the direction of stress [32]. The material can be stretched until localised instabilities form and “necking” (extension to greater strain than surrounding material) occurs [41]. Regions in which there is necking become progressively weaker, leading to ductile tearing. As with any solid, failure preferentially develops in the most energetically favourable direction, which is determined by a combination of high tensile stress and low tensile strength [42], and depends heavily on populations of flaws or impurities. The microstructure of the material is important when nanopores have dimensions comparable to the size of discrete structural elements. TPU is composed of chains of alternating hard crystalline and soft amorphous regions, with “virtual” crosslinks [27]. The polymers in Table 7.1 are polyether-based and have Shore A hardness greater than 70, which suggests that lengths of soft and hard chain regions are approximately 15–90 and 150 nm respectively [27]. X-ray diffraction imaging of a polyurethane elastomer at 500% elongation [43] shows chains oriented in the direction of applied strain. In this case, lengths of soft and hard chain regions were approximately 1–2 μm and 250 nm respectively. When a stressed, ductile material contains such stress-concentrating inhomogeneities, ruptures or cavities form adjacent to these features, eventually forcing ductile failure of the material between cavities [42]. The resulting fracture surface displays a dimpled or ribbed pattern.

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The following further failure morphologies could be expected for TPUs: • Little permanent deformation (e.g. “crazing” and “shear banding” observed with other polymers), because the deformation process is mostly reversible. • Folding near the failure surface, where material has been hyperextended prior to the onset of instabilities. Folding is more pronounced in a necking region. • Cracks, which can propagate relatively short distanced in ductile materials, especially at low temperature or high strain rate [41].

7.2.5 Fabrication Method Conceptually, nanopore production is simple: apertures are produced by penetrating a membrane with a sharp tip. This process is controlled by an electronic feedback circuit that monitors the degree of penetration. The feedback circuit requires that the penetrating tip conducts electricity, so electrochemically etched tungsten probes are used. These probes (Fig. 7.7a) are produced by standard electrochemical

Fig. 7.7 Nanopore fabrication. (a) SEM image of a typical tungsten probe used in aperture manufacture. Terminal radius can be at least as low as 50–100 nm. (b) A schematic diagram of the electronic feedback system used. (c) A record of current against time during penetration. (b) and (c) are reproduced from [1]

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etching of polycrystalline tungsten rod in sodium hydroxide. It is possible to control parameters of the etching process to reproducibly target specific probe geometries. For a regularly-shaped pore, it is critical that these probes are symmetrical and smooth. Electronic feedback (Fig. 7.7b) is provided by setting up a voltage clamp between two electrodes. The first electrode is the tungsten probe, which is attached to a computer-controlled actuator, and penetrates the membrane perpendicular to the cis face. The second is a stainless steel, electrolyte-filled receptacle on the trans side of the membrane. A user-defined bias voltage is applied across the two electrodes (typically 200 mV) and penetration is performed at a user-defined rate (typically 1.5 μm s–1 ). A current trace recorded during the fabrication of the aperture (Fig. 7.7c; see also [1]), shows the onset of penetration and the increasing current due to the progressive immersion of the exposed probe in electrolyte. Penetration continues until a set-point current is reached, whereupon probe actuation reverses until the probe is completely withdrawn. By monitoring the circuit resistance in this way, it is possible to precisely monitor the penetration process and produce apertures of particular sizes – where size is measured in terms of characteristic resistance. However, the level of control is such that nanopores have unique features on the micron to nanometre scale, regardless of the parameters used.

7.2.6 Nanopore Outcomes Optical microscopy can be used to observe the larger, cis- openings of individual nanopores to resolutions of the order of microns (Fig. 7.8). Optical images of pores in a transparent polymer can also be obtained at an oblique angle to the membrane surfaces, revealing the profile of the pore within the membrane (Fig. 7.8b). This profile appears roughly symmetric about a central axis, with a slightly concave (trumpet-shaped) internal surface. SEM has been used to investigate the morphology of cis (Fig. 7.9) and trans (Fig. 7.10) nanopore openings. SEM is essentially a destructive technique: the coated pore is contaminated and therefore unsuitable for ionic current measurements. Figure 7.9a demonstrates that an unstretched pore can be irregularly shaped at the membrane surface. When the membrane is stretched, the pore appears more circular, but aspects of the unstretched shape are retained. Asymmetric failure of the membrane surface about the tungsten tip can occur during pore formation. When unstretched, there is evidence for a zone of ribbed, ductile folding radiating from the pore. This material has been hyperextended during pore formation. Unstretched cis openings typically have diameters between 5 and 20 μm. Images of another typical pore (Figs. 7.9b and 7.9c) demonstrate that geometrical irregularity is most pronounced at the membrane surface. Pores are regularly shaped, with a near-circular cross section, as they taper into the elastomer below the cis

224 Fig. 7.8 Optical micrographs of nanopores. (a) The cis surface of a membrane, reproduced from [1]. The scale bar represents 50 μm. (b) A dark pore profile viewed with the normal to the membrane surface tilted by ∼50◦ relative to the line-of-sight. Cis-openings of each nanopore are approximately 20 μm in diameter


(a)

(b)

surface. Any non-circularity arises from azimuthal anisotropy in the stress field, caused by either the applied strain or probe geometry during puncture. Cis pore images clearly relate to the failure mechanisms discussed above. In Fig. 7.9c, ribbed structure is observed on internal pore walls, beneath the membrane surface. Cavities or instabilities have nucleated with typical spacing of ∼1 μm, consistent with the spacing of hard and soft regions in an elongated TPU. The folding mechanism explains the observed morphology of unstretched pores (e.g. Fig. 7.9a), as material must be conserved after the newly-punctured elastomer is relaxed. The appearance of elongated branches for the unstretched pore in Fig. 7.9a is perhaps surprising. Tensile stress near the edge of the pore is intensified during stretching, and may (along with any local stress-concentrating factors) exceed the tensile strength of TPU.

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(a)

(c)

(b)

Fig. 7.9 SEM images of the cis aspects of two pores. In (a), three images are shown at the same scale. From left to right, images correspond to stretches of α = 0, 0.10 and 0.22 respectively. (b) and (c) show another pore, with the focus shifted from the surface in (b) to the pore walls below the surface in (c). In order to image the insulating polyurethane, membranes were sputtered with a ∼5 nm thick layer of gold/palladium. Imaging at the lip and interior of the pore are sometimes affected by charging due to uneven application of this coating

(a)

(b)

(c)

Fig. 7.10 Micrographs of trans pores with surfaces coated as in Fig. 7.9. Prior to imaging, pores were used for translocation experiments using polystyrene spheres. (a) A pore at α = 0.22, reproduced from [4]. (b) A pore at α = 0.10, in which the conductive coating partially obscured the opening. (c) Another pore at α = 0.10, with a near-elliptical shape and polystyrene spheres adhered to the membrane surface

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SEM studies of trans surface pores (Fig. 7.10) are difficult: their size and conductive coating make them hard to locate and image. One clear image (Fig. 7.10a) shows a near-circular stretched pore. The opening observed in Fig. 7.10b appears smaller, and is slightly irregularly-shaped. The entrance is also partly obscured by a protruding plate from the conductive gold/palladium coating. A third opening (Fig. 7.10c) has a smooth, elongated shape. Polystyrene spheres, which were used in experiments prior to imaging, are observed as clusters in Fig. 7.10a and as individual particles in Fig. 7.10c. The observed particles were apparently unmoved by stretching, voltage changes or pressure while in use, so it is likely that they have adhered or bound to the pore surface. Particles immobilised in or near the pore entrance could significantly affect current measurements. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) can be used to obtain near-surface nanopore profiles. Resolution is generally lower than for SEM imaging. An AFM cantilever is physically restricted by the pore walls, so the feedback system generates additional noise and, at some depth, the probe loses contact with the surface. The TPU surface is relatively soft, so complicated tip-surface interactions can produce further artefacts in the scan. Cis and trans pores imaged using AFM (Fig. 7.11) show some evidence of directional failure or tearing (e.g. Fig. 7.11a), consistent with those imaged using SEM. Depth profiles across trans openings have been measured as a function of α (Fig. 7.12). The pore becomes progressively smaller below the trans surface. The gradient of the pore walls increases with increasing α, so it is apparent that the hole size increases when the membrane is stretched. Trans side features observed using SEM and AFM appear to be of the order of a micron in size, yet it is demonstrated in the next section that currents measured through the pores suggest a much smaller hole: effectively with a radius of 100 nm or less [2]. This disparity can be explained by the following lines of reasoning, which are consistent with all of the available evidence. 1. SEM and AFM images only reveal surface features. AFM in particular indicates that the narrowest part of the pore opening (the “constriction”) lies below the membrane surface. 2. Trans pore openings are difficult to locate and image. It is possible that the particular pores imaged have relatively large surface features. 3. Calculations of effective radius from ionic current measurements (Section 7.3) do not take into account the concavity seen in optical pore profiles (Fig. 7.8b).

7.2.7 “Local” Strain from Cruciform Actuation A variety of tunable nanopore methods, geometries and materials have been and are being trialled. However, analysis of pore actuation can be simplified to exclude specific geometry by considering an azimuthally symmetric, radial strain er in the surrounding isotropic membrane. We label this strain the “local” strain to denote that it is defined without reference to geometric or mechanical properties external to

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Fig. 7.11 Tapping mode AFM scans from showing 3D projections of (a) a cis pore at α = 0, and (b) a trans pore at α = 0, reproduced from [2]. The z scaling is the same as the horizontal scaling in these images

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(a)

(b)

the membrane. It is applied far enough from the pore that strain is invariant relative to azimuthal or radial position, and through the membrane thickness. In the case of a particular cruciform geometry [3] similar to Fig. 7.2, local strain has been studied both by modelling and by experiment. Figure 7.13 shows modelled strain profiles in the plane of a cruciform at α ∼ = 0.24. Strain within the septum is isotropic and homogeneous to better than 2%. The largest strains are between the cruciform arms, at the edge of the elastomer. Along the cruciform arms, the largest strain occurs in extension of the arms, while the arm width decreases. The distribution of stresses closely follows that of the strains. The strain field near a nanopore was measured from optical micrographs [2]. Data confirm that it is reasonable to assume that er is isotropic over the approximate range 50–250 μm from the pore (measured at zero stretch). Local strain

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Fig. 7.12 AFM profiles along a line parallel to scanning direction, passing through the centre of a trans opening, reproduced from [2]. Data has been smoothed for clarity. The scans have been shifted in the x-direction to align pore positions. Alignment in the z’ direction is arbitrary, although an attempt has been made to align the position of surfaces far from the pore. Note that z’ = –z + 2.1 μm

Fig. 7.13 Modelled strain distribution in the plane of a cruciform at α ∼ = 0.24, reproduced from [3]. The lines AB and CD are defined in Fig. 7.2b. By symmetry, eyy = exx along the line CD. Finite element modelling used the Ansys v.11.1 Multiphysics package with plane stress or axially symmetric linear elastic elements (ν = 0.49 and E = 51.7 MPa). The free meshing option gave good resolution over a range which included both the centimetre (macroscopic) scale and the sub-micron scale (around the pore). Modelling did not include detailed reproduction of pegs and cruciform grips. The nanopore is too small to significantly affect the result on this scale

increases linearly with α, and therefore with X, from below α = 0.1 up to maximum extension (Fig. 7.14). The gradient over this part of the data was 0.99, close to the value obtained by modelling (1.06). The non-linear experimental response at low strains, which indicates increased responsiveness of the local strain to extension, is not reproduced using the linear elastic model.

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Fig. 7.14 Experimental and modelled plots of the local strain as a function of α, each with a linear fit to the data. The fit to the experimental local strain data (R2 > 0.98) ignores the data point at the origin and the first stretched data point. Data reproduced from [2] and [3]

7.3 Actuation In the first part of this section, the actuation of linear elastic holes with circular cylindrical and circular conical geometry is analysed. The previous section has indicated that this approach ignores some practical issues. However, the simple approach allows important concepts of pore actuation to be introduced. The ionic current measured passing through the pore is then used to calculate an effective pore size, using a series of analytic assumptions. Sections 7.3.4–7.3.7 discuss further important considerations for nanopore actuation.

7.3.1 Ideal Cylindrical Pore A suitable starting point for analysis of elastomeric nanopore actuation is a cylindrical hole in a linear elastic (Hookean) sheet. For a Hookean material in equilibrium, the azimuthally-symmetric stress field around the pore can be described using simple potentials (Appendix, [3]). The radial and hoop strains are then given by

a2 + 1 − v and r2

a2 σ∞ (1 + v) 2 + 1 − v eθ = E r er =

σ∞ E

−(1 + v)

(7.3)

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and the z-strain is a constant, ez = −

2v σ∞ . E

(7.4)

Equations (7.3) and (7.4) are consistent with incompressibility to first order in strain for a material of Poisson’s ratio 0.5. The qualitative features of this simple analysis can be verified with the aid of an ANSYS finite element model using linear elastic elements, as described in Fig. 7.13 and [3]. Figure 7.15 shows the stress and strain profiles derived from this model in the vicinity of a cylindrical Hookean pore in plane stress. Close to the pore wall, the large stresses and strains in the azimuthal (hoop) direction reproduce a well-known result, that the tensile hoop stress at the pore walls is twice as large as the local stress in the elastomer [44]. Material weaknesses or further geometric stress concentrators in this region are prone to failure. Near-pore material is compressed (negative strain) in the radial direction, and there is a certain radius (Eq. 7.23) at which the material does not experience radial strain for any extension. This simple approach can be extended to describe pore fabrication. The cruciform is first extended, then a hole of radius a0 is introduced into the membrane. The inner boundary is then released so that the pore assumes a new radius, a1 . The cruciform is then allowed to relax so that there is no far-field stress and the new radius is a1 >a0 >a2 , and suggests that, under the Hookean assumption, the pore radius can be reduced to zero. Ionic current measurements have indicated that unstretched elastomeric nanopores can have dramatically reduced radii [2] or close completely [1].

7.3.2 Ideal Circular Conical Pore Real elastomeric nanopores taper from a relatively large opening on the cis side of the membrane to a sub-micron constriction near the trans surface. We now consider

Fig. 7.15 Radial and hoop (azimuthal) strains (a) and stresses (b) plotted as a function of radial position for local strains characterised by α. The results have been calculated for a linear elastic cylindrical pore of stretched radius 1 μm using ANSYS modelling (see Fig. 7.13 for details)

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a)

b)

Fig. 7.16 (a) Pore profiles in the x-z plane for various local strains. (b) A magnified view of (a) near the smaller (trans) opening of the nanopore, reproduced from [3]. Unstretched cone radii are 10 nm and 15 μm, and membrane thickness is 250 μm. See Fig. 7.13 for details of modelling

a right regular conical nanopore in a linear elastic material. The model is restricted to the r-z plane, for a membrane with isotropically applied local strain. Calculated pore profiles are shown in Fig. 7.16. The trend is intuitive, although the stretched membrane is slightly thicker near the pore. A magnified view of the trans side of the membrane (Fig. 7.16b) indicates that, even for a linear elastic material, there is curvature of the pore wall when the membrane is stretched.

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7.3.3 Nanopore Actuation – Electronic Measurements Previous nanopore studies [45, 46] have used Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) theory to establish that the current density J when a bias is applied across the membrane has three contributing components, J = Jdiff + Jep + Jeo ,

(7.5)

where the terms on the right hand side refer to the diffusion, electrophoretic and electroosmotic currents respectively (Fig. 7.17). The electroosmotic term is usually neglected in nanopore studies [47–49], as it can be shown that the electroosmotic contribution to current is negligible, even if the constriction is of similar scale to the electrical double layer [4, 8, 50, 51]. In some studies of pores with similar dimensions to the elastomeric nanopores being discussed here, it has been assumed that diffusion current is negligible [16, 52, 53]. In this case the current through the pore can be derived simply by assuming that the electrolyte has uniform resistivity ρ and treating the membrane as an insulator. The pore than acts as a conical conductor connecting two reservoirs of negligible resistance – the immersed surface area of both electrodes is large relative to pore size. If the cone has smaller radius a, larger radius b and the length of the cone is l (Fig. 7.3), the electrophoretic current due to applied transmembrane potential V0 is Iep =

V0 π ab . ρl

(7.6)

More detailed simulations [47, 48, 52, 53] have applied fewer simplifications to PNP theory. Measurements of current-voltage (I-V) characteristics for elastomeric nanopores typically yield results as shown in Fig. 7.18 [2]. The small anisotropy between current response at positive and negative applied bias in current-voltage measurements could be consistent with Ramirez et al.’s prediction of current rectification effects [53]. Current anisotropy would also be observed if pore morphology is altered by voltage-dependent hydrodynamic or electrostatic forces. I-V measurements can be used to estimate the smaller pore radius using Eq. (7.6), with the larger cone radius b is estimated from microscopy of various specimens. Effective resting pore radii in typical elastomeric specimens range from tens to hundreds of nanometres, and can be actuated over an order of magnitude between α = 0 and α = 0.3 [2]. Other pores have resting radii of molecular dimensions [1]. Figure 7.19 compares experimental values of pore resistance [2] with various models [3]. Data from typical experiments include a low stretch response (α < 0.1) for which current is low and does not strongly depend on stretch. At greater stretch, a “working range” is found. The empirical relation, R = R0 α −n ,

(7.7)

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a)

b)

c)

Fig. 7.17 Schematic diagrams demonstrating three effects which drive particle translocation through nanopores. Each effect is present for any type of particle, including ions, nanospheres and polymers. (a) Thermal motion drives particle diffusion when there is a concentration gradient across the membrane. (b) When a potential is applied across the membrane, an electrophoretic force acts on any charge-carrying particle. In (c), the pore is drawn larger for clarity. An elastomeric polymer typically has a slight negative surface charge. A double layer (dotted lines) containing mostly positive ions is formed adjacent to the surface. When potential is applied, the double layer ions pull the bulk fluid with them. This creates an electrosmotic flow which also affects any other particles

describes experimental data within the working range well, using values of R0 and n which are particular to each pore. A physical interpretation of Eq. (7.7) is that the pore is closed when relaxed (a = 0, α = 0). When the membrane is stretched, the membrane undergoes affine expansion (scaling linearly with er in two dimensions) beyond some radial distance from the edge of the pore. This distance remains constant, regardless of a and α, and volume is not conserved.

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Fig. 7.18 Typical current-voltage data [2] over a full relaxation cycle, with lines drawn to assist interpretation. Data was collected with an ambient bias of ± 200 mV, moving through successive 20 mV voltage steps. Viscoelastic effects were minimised by using stress-softened cruciforms and carrying out measurements with consistent timing relative to stretching events

Fig. 7.19 Approaches for determining nanopore resistance as a function of α, using data from [2, 3]. Theoretical models are as described in the text, and the experiment is trial 1 using specimen B2 in [2]. Resistances are calculated using Eqs. (7.6) and (7.7) and Fig. 7.16 as appropriate, with resistivity equal to that of 0.1 M KCl, as used in the experiment

The models which employ an elastic 2D cylinder and an elastic cone do not describe the data as successfully as Eq. (7.7). Plots for these cases are scaled to fit the experimental larger cone radius b and membrane thickness, and require only one parameter (smaller pore radius) to be fitted to the data. Of these models, the conical model is closer to the shape of the experimental data. Pore actuation at the onset of stretching (α < 0.075) is not well described by modelling. Viscoelastic and

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morphological effects associated with the extreme fabrication event determine the response in this range.

7.3.4 Viscoelasticity in Real Pores Viscoelastic properties of TPU (Section 7.2) are an important consideration for pore actuation. An example of viscoelastic pore behaviour is shown in Fig. 7.20. When a pristine nanopore is stretched through a number of cycles, the current at maximum extension and zero stress gradually changes from cycle to cycle. This example demonstrates why it is beneficial to stress-soften a nanopore prior to repeated measurements. To further study viscoelastic nanopore actuation, experiments have been carried out using a model system consisting of relatively large holes (130 μm diameter) in 200 μm–thick TPU membranes. While there are some drawbacks to this model system (especially the large ratio of pore size to membrane thickness), it provides the opportunity to study gross changes in hole size. Stress softening of the membrane prior to fabrication resulted in about 30% greater hole diameter during the first minutes of extension. This result can be understood in terms of irreversible deformation, which leaves a residual “set” at the time of fabrication. Holes made in cruciforms while in the stretched condition were larger than unstretched pristine holes by up to 20%. Figure 7.21a shows that, following relaxation of a cruciform after a few minutes’ extension, the model pore rapidly decreases in size (about 10% over 100 s) and then continues to decrease by a further 2% over several hours. Pristine model cruciforms were observed during cyclic opening and closing (Fig. 7.21b). The timing of this

Time / min

Fig. 7.20 Current measured through a pristine specimen (top) and cyclical cruciform extension (bottom) plotted against time, with 500 mV applied potential. The 0.1 M KCl solution wets the nanopore near maximum extension during the fourth cycle

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a)

b)

Fig. 7.21 (a) Relaxation of a hole in a membrane after extension to α = 0.3 for ∼200 s. Measurements of hole diameter were made using a projection microscope at 100 times magnification. (b) Hole size as the cruciform was repeatedly extended to X = 58 mm, held at that extension for 10 s, then closed to X0 . Rise and return times are both 60 s. The traces show the stretched hole diameter (upper) and the relaxed hole diameter (lower)

sequence reproduces the cycles during the nanopore experiment in Fig. 7.20, and both Figs. 7.20 and 7.21 demonstrate the Mullins effect discussed in Section 2.3. The relaxed model hole size steadily increases with time, effectively doubling in the first few minutes and thereafter increasing more slowly, with no sign of levelling off after 20 cycles. Unlike the nanopore, the extended hole size also steadily increases over the same period. These experiments show that the complexity of viscoelastic elastomeric behaviour should not be underestimated. Nanopore size at any given time will

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depend primarily on initial stress softening, the degree of membrane extension and the short-term creep response, variables which can be controlled in ionic current experiments. Additionally, there is a small amount of creep or relaxation over several hours following a change in extension. Therefore the precise history, including time held in any extended position and time spent relaxing, cannot be ignored entirely. Temperature affects both the rate at which equilibrium is attained and the dimensions reached for any given extension.

7.3.5 Capacitance and AC Measurements It is useful to use an alternating current (AC) to further measure the viscoelastic properties of elastomeric membranes and nanopores. Such measurements encompass both conductivity and capacitance. They are sensitive to the stretching and thickness change of the membrane, as well as the opening of larger pores: the dynamics of all of these processes can be acquired. When a sinusoidal voltage of cyclic frequency f and peak value Vpk is applied across a membrane made of an insulator such as TPU, the AC that flows will also be sinusoidal. The in-phase AC is proportional to the conductance G(f), I = Vpk G(f ).

(7.8)

There will also be an AC component that is 90◦ in advance of the voltage, and this component is proportional to the membrane capacitance C(f) and to the frequency: I

= Vpk 2π fC(f ),

(7.9)

For a good insulator, I” » I’, and the ratio I”/I’ = 2π f C(f)/G(f) is often referred to as the quality factor Q(f) of the assembly. Unlike the current seen in DC measurements, G(f) reflects a variety of lossy (heat-generating) processes: not only ionic flow through a pore but also electric field-induced electronic, atomic and molecular reorientations within the polymer [54]. Capacitance causes the applied voltage to store energy within the polymer, and is proportional to the area of the membrane in contact with electrodes (Amem ): C(f ) =

Amem εr ε0 , t

(7.10)

where t is the membrane thickness, εr ε0 is the product of the relative and vacuum permittivities, and εr has a value of about 7.0 for TPU [55]. The corresponding value for water is ∼80 at room temperature, but a single aqueous nanopore is so small that it is not expected to make a significant contribution to the capacitance. Hence an observed increase in C(f) may be due to an increase in Amem or a decrease in t, or both. For an isotropic radial strain field in an incompressible membrane, it is expected that C(f) increases as (1+er )4 . Therefore, using the assumption that α ∼ = er ,

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the cruciform membrane capacitance response to an extension α might be expected to fit some law: C0 (f ) + C(f ) = (1 + α)m , C0 (f )

(7.11)

where m is a constant and C0 (f) is the capacitance with no stretch applied. Measurements of capacitance and conductance across a cruciform membrane with patch-type geometry (see Section 7.2.1) are shown in Fig. 7.22. As X (equal to X0 + ΔX) is increased in regular steps (Fig. 7.22a), the capacitance and conductance both increase at greater than a linear rate with respect to X (Fig. 7.22b). This cruciform had been repeatedly cycled between a relaxed state and X = 16 mm, yet exhibited relaxations in capacitance and conductance measurements following 1.5 mm step-changes in X (Fig. 7.22a). Although measurements were consistent from cycle to cycle, the relaxations at each extension continued over numerous cycles, with no further gain in stability. This cruciform contained a large pore: the upper conductance limit of 1.8 μS seen in Fig. 7.22b corresponds to a right cylindrical pore of 4 μm radius and 200 μm length (Eq. 7.6). The conductance exhibited a similar percentage relaxation to that of the capacitance following each step-change in X. It is interesting that the capacitance relaxations are more pronounced after increase of X, whereas the conductance changes are more pronounced after decrease of X. Figure 7.23 shows capacitance and conductance data for a second membrane. In R 1195. The membrane this case, the membrane was fully moulded from Elastollan had no pore apparent in DC measurements; the conductance is almost 100 times lower than that of the cruciform containing a pore. It can therefore be assumed that the conductance seen in Fig. 7.22 is dominated by that of the pore, whereas the conductance in Fig. 7.23 is due to AC losses in the polymer. This cruciform had been repeatedly cycled to ΔX = 16 mm, and shows stable values of capacitance and conductance up to that extension, with no apparent relaxation following stretching. The difference in behaviour when compared with Fig. 7.22 may be related to the different material properties of the patch (Table 7.1) or the mechanical properties of the bonding epoxy. Once X = 16 mm is exceeded, conductance and especially capacitance values clearly decrease during the 120 s pauses after positive, but not negative, incremental changes in X. This trend can be interpreted as being due to creep in the arms of the cruciform causing a decrease in the stress applied to the central membrane. Q is close to 20 and decreases with increasing X, indicating that conductance increases more rapidly than does capacitance. Two aspects of the Mullins effect (Section 7.2.3) are evident here: 1. Extension beyond the historical limit in Fig. 7.23b causes hysteresis between extension and recovery traces for both capacitance and conductance measurements. The first cruciform exhibited a degree of hysteresis over the full

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a)

b)

Fig. 7.22 (a) Extension and relaxation of a cruciform to X = 16.0 mm, with measurement of capacitance and conductance at 10 kHz using an impedance analyzer (HP 4194A), which applied a peak voltage of 0.5 V. X was increased in 1.5 mm steps from 1.0 to 16.0 mm, with a pause of 120 s at each extension. The cruciform was placed with its lower face in contact with highly conductive (6.9 S m–1 ) electrolyte. A hemispherical droplet of electrolyte formed the upper electrical contact. Electrodes (silver wire and stainless gauze) were inserted into the two liquid compartments. (b) Capacitance and conductance values derived from (a). Continuous curves connect data points from steps of increasing X; dashed curves connect data points from relaxation steps. The capacitance curves are 2nd order, and the conductance curves 4th order, polynomial best fits (method of splines). Dotted lines within oval boxes for the most extended step were not part of the regressions used to fit these curves

240


a)

b)

Fig. 7.23 (a) Extension and relaxation of a moulded cruciform from X = 1.0 to 16.0 mm in ten steps of 1.5 mm and then from X = 0.5 to 20.5 mm in ten steps of 2 mm. Experimental details were otherwise the same as those in Fig. 7.22. (b) Capacitance, conductance and Q values derived from (a). Continuous curves connect data points from steps of increasing ΔX; dashed curves connect data points from relaxation steps. All curves are 2nd order polynomial best fits (method of splines). The dotted line in the oval box was not part of the regressions used to fit the other curves

range of extensions (Fig. 7.22b), consistent with the trend of creep immediately following extension, as discussed above. 2. For both cruciforms, the polynomial fits are only good up to values less than the historical cyclical extension limit. The last 1.5 mm of extension (outlined within the oval box) does not conform with the trend from lower ΔX values.

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Values of the exponent m derived from fits to Eq. (7.11) are between 1.9 and 2.2 [56]. These values are close to or below the limiting value of 2 expected for a nonthinning membrane, suggesting that the local response to macroscopic stretching is reasonably unresponsive.

7.3.6 Pores with Variable Azimuthal Geometry SEM images suggest that pores can be significantly non-circular, and may be nearelliptical (Fig. 7.10c). Initial insight into the importance of azimuthal anisotropy can be gained by considering stress concentration factors for a linear elastic elliptical hole under biaxial stress. For the ellipse defined in Fig. 7.24, the classical solution [44] gives σ1 2c and = σ∞ d σ2 2d . = σ∞ c

(7.12)

The greatest stresses and strains occur at the sharper end of the ellipse. Conversely, when the plate is relaxed, strain relaxation will be greater around the sharp edge of the ellipse and the eccentricity will increase. Anisotropic folding is also evident in SEM images of unstretched pores. Even if fabrication is largely azimuthally symmetric, localised anisotropy will be present due to the growth of necking instabilities. Overextended material near the hole must be conserved as the elastomer is relaxed, and will compress and fold according to these local features.

7.3.7 Conclusions on Actuation There are three key differences between idealised pores and those characterised experimentally. Firstly, and most importantly, extreme deformation occurs during penetration in the material adjacent to the pore. Near-pore material stretched towards failure undergoes significant inelastic deformation and becomes less responsive to

Fig. 7.24 Schematic diagram of a two-dimensional elliptical pore, with semi-major and semi-minor axes c and d respectively. Tensile stresses σ1 and σ2 are defined at the edge of the ellipse

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further tensile actuation. The fabrication process also involves z-direction compression or bending. These effects combine to produce complicated, history-dependent low strain experimental data. As a result, reconciliation of experimental ionic current data with model systems to date (Fig. 7.19) is poor, especially at low strains. The second key difference is the occurrence of pores of varying threedimensional shape, increasing the difficulty of matching experimental results with simple models. Ongoing improvements to fabrication techniques are producing more regular pores. Theory and simulations can be developed to incorporate non-circular cross sections (e.g. ellipses) and variable cone-like shapes. Finally, the macroscopic mechanical response of TPU is nonlinear and viscoelastic. This behaviour can be experimentally characterised using microscopy and electronic techniques, and future models should be able to describe bulk viscoelasticity relatively accurately. The assumptions underlying analysis of current measurement experiments should be revisited for nanopores manufactured on smaller scales. Electronic effects such as rectification will become more significant in current measurement experiments. The electric field strength is highly intensified at small apertures. The membrane itself may have significant dielectric properties and support surface charge.

7.4 Translocations 7.4.1 Resistive Pulse Signals When a particle passes through a nanopore, there is a brief change in the measured current while the particle remains within the pore. This resistive pulse is easily understood qualitatively, in terms of the pore’s electrical resistance to charge carriers. An insulating particle within the pore decreases the volume available for carrier transport, thereby increasing pore resistance and (for constant applied bias) decreasing the current. Accurate prediction of the pulse size is more difficult. Jelstch and Zimmermann [57] analysed resistive pulses in the context of cells transiting the central orifice in a Coulter counter. They considered an ellipsoidal particle with bulk dielectric characteristics in a homogeneous electric field. The translocation current change I is related to the baseline current I0 and the volumes of the particle vp and the orifice v0 using I = fs fc

vp I0 , v0

(7.13)

where the shape factor fs varies between 1.5 for a sphere and 1 for an infinitely long ellipsoid (effectively, a cylinder). The charge factor fc varies between 1 for a perfectly insulating particle and –(fs –1)–1 for a conducting particle. Fractional resistance change can be zero, change sign and even diverge (for fs = 1) depending

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on the shape and electronic properties of the translocating particle. A similar simple method, developed for use with Coulter technology [58], considers the translocating particle to be a perfect insulator, so that the resistivity change is proportional to the volume of the particle (or particles) within the pore. These methods are often sufficient for measurement of particle size in an application context (Section 7.5), and Eq. (7.13) can be used in a first approach to the interpretation of nanopore translocation data. More complex effects can be important for nanoscale resistive pulses. Particles of interest, including biological molecules, typically incorporate molecular-scale charge distributions in addition to bulk dielectric properties. Examples include the negatively charged surface of carboxylated polystyrene (PS) spheres and the charged “backbone” of a DNA molecule. In solution, the arrangement of mobile ions around a particle will depend on molecular charge and shape characteristics; any inherent charge on a particle is partially “screened” by mobile ions of opposite charge. As an example of the complexities involved, consider the screening of the DNA sugarphosphate backbone by counter-ions. Different sources [59, 60] have suggested that the fractional effective charge following screening is between 0.1 and 0.5, depending on the precise electronic conditions of the solution, the nanopore walls and the applied voltage. There is evidence that DNA translocations can produce a positive current pulse in certain ionic solutions [59, 60], suggesting that the factor fc in Eq. (7.13) is solution-dependent for DNA. It is usually most practical to consider the “effective” charge, which is derived from the mobility of a particle in an electric field, and incorporates a constant screening effect. Screening can be understood using the concept of double layer conductance. The enhanced concentration of mobile ions in the double layer surrounding a charged particle gives rise to an electrical conductance which is practically independent of the ionic strength of the solution. Values of this “surface” conductance Ks close to 1 nS have been found for highly charged polymer particles [61]. For a particle of radius a’, this conductance increases the effective conductivity by 2Ks /a’ [62]. Hence a highly-charged particle of radius 100 nm can be expected to have an effective conductivity of perhaps 0.02 S m–1 , which is far less than that of 100 mM KCl solution but above that of 1 mM KCl. A similar mechanism should give a moderate conductivity for DNA in aqueous solution, and indeed dsDNA from lambda phage has been found by an AC dielectrophoretic method to have an effective conductivity of 0.03 S m–1 [63]. Detailed understanding of translocation dynamics provides a further challenge. A simple picture of transport, based on particle flux in PNP theory (c.f. Eq. (7.5)), will be sufficient for many experiments [4, 5, 8]. More generally, measurements of dwell time within the pore, translocation frequency and thresholds for initiating translocation are all affected by numerous variables, including pore area, length and material properties, applied voltage, ionic concentration and pH. DNA translocation thresholds have been studied for molecular-scale nanopores, and the relationship between applied bias, translocation frequency and dwell time is only loosely understood [22, 49, 64–66].

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7.4.2 Electric Field and Particle Flux Analytic expressions for the electric field in and around the nanopore can be derived subject to the same simple assumptions used for Eq. (7.6). The electric field in a cylindrical pore of length l is independent of r and z, and is entirely parallel to the z-axis, Ez =

V0 (0 < z < l). l

(7.14)

If pore geometry is a right circular cone having smaller and larger openings of radii a and b respectively, the electric field is again independent of r, but varies with z. As long as (b – a) a0 > a2 . Furthermore, a2 < 0 if σ∞ > (E/2), suggesting that the pore radius can be reduced to zero under the Hookean assumption underlying this analysis.

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63. Hoeb, M., et al., Light-induced dielectrophoretic manipulation of DNA. Biophys. J. 93, 1032–1038 (2007). 64. Meller, A., Nivon, L. & Branton, D., Voltage-driven DNA translocations through a nanopore. Phys. Rev. Lett. 86, 3435–3438 (2001). 65. Heng, J. B., et al., The electromechanics of DNA in a synthetic nanopore. Biophys. J. 90, 1098–1106 (2006). 66. Berezhkovskii, A. M., Pustovoit, M. A. & Bezrukov, S. M. Channel-facilitated membrane transport: Average lifetimes in the channel. J. Chem. Phys. 119, 3943–3951 (2003). 67. Grossman, P. D. in Capillary electrophoresis (eds Grossman, P. D. & Colburn, J. C.) 3–44 (Academic Press, San Diego 1992). 68. OECD. Publications relating to nanotechnology and nanosafety at www.oecd.org/sti/ nano&www.oecd.org/env/nanosafety (OECD, Paris, accessed 15 October 2008). 69. The International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium. Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome. Nature 409, 860–921 (2001). 70. Venter, J. C., et al., The sequence of the human genome. Science 291, 1304–1351 (2001). 71. Collins, F. S., et al., A vision for the future of genomics research. Nature 422, 835–847 (2003). 72. Service, R., The race for the $1000 genome. Science 311, 1544–1546 (2006). 73. Foquet, M., et al., Improved fabrication of zero-mode waveguides for single-molecule detection. J. Appl. Phys. 103, 034301 (2008). 74. Deamer, D. W. & Akeson, M., Nanopores and nucleic acids: Prospects for ultrarapid sequencing. Trends Biotechnol. 18, 147–151 (2000). 75. Branton, D., et al., The potential and challenges of nanopore sequencing. Nat. Biotechnol. 26, 1146–1153 (2008). 76. Heng, J. B., et al., Sizing DNA using a nanometer-diameter pore. Biophys. J. 87, 2905–2911 (2004). 77. Oukhaled, G., et al., Unfolding of proteins and long transient conformations detected by single nanopore recording. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 158101 (2007). 78. Storm, A. J., Storm, C. & Chen, J., Fast DNA translocation through a solid-state nanopore. Nano Lett. 5, 1193–1197 (2005). 79. Lagerqvist, J., Zwolaky, M. & Di Ventra, M., Influence of the environment and probes on rapid DNA sequencing via transverse electronic transport. Biophys. J. 93, 2384–2390 (2007). 80. Polonsky, S., Rossnagel, S., & Stolovitzky, G., Nanopore in metal-dielectric sandwich for DNA position control. Appl. Phys. Lett. 91, 153103 (2007). 81. Gershow, M. & Golovchenko, J. A., Recapturing and trapping single molecules with a solidstate nanopore. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2, 775–779 (2007). 82. Stein, D., Molecular ping-pong. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2, 741–742 (2007). 83. Mathe, J., et al., Nanopore unzipping of individual DNA hairpin molecules. Biophys. J. 87, 3205–3212 (2004). 84. Keyser, U. F., et al., Optical tweezers for force measurements on DNA in nanopores. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 77, 105105 (2006). 85. Keyser, U. F., et al., Direct force measurements on DNA in a solid-state nanopore. Nat. Phys. 2, 473–477 (2006). 86. Tallon, J. L. Nanotechnologies for single-molecule or single-ligand spectroscopy. Patent USSN 61/129,293 (2008). 87. Hossain, M. K. et al., Gold nanoaggregates on elastomer: a substrate for tunable SERS. Proceedings of ICONN 2010 Conference (IEE explore, Sydney, Australia, 2010). 88. Le Ru, E. C., Meyer, M. & Etchegoin, P. G., Proof of single-molecule sensitivity in surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by means of a two-analyte technique. J. Phys. Chem. B 110, 1944–1948 (2006).

Chapter 8

Synthesis of Carbon Nanotubes Nicole Grobert, Siegmar Roth, John Robertson, and Cheol Jin Lee

Abstract A general overview is given over the most common methods to synthesize single-walled and multi-walled carbon nanotubes. In particular carbon arc synthesis, laser ablation synthesis, chemical vapor deposition, and carbon monoxide disproportionation are discussed. A special section is devoted to the role of the catalyst and some ideas on the growth mechanism are presented.

8.1 Introduction Carbon nanotubes (and their relatives graphene, graphitic monolayers) are often considered as the most exciting materials at the beginning of the new millennium. This excitement comes about from the combination of the possibility to study basic physical phenomena and the hope for opening new frontiers in industrial applications. In Fig. 8.1 we show the computer model of a single-walled carbon nanotube. It is a seamless tube of a graphitic monolayer. The diameter is about 1 nm and the length can be up to several millimetres. So the tube has an aspect ratio (ratio of length to diameter) of well above 1,000. The tube can be envisaged as being made by rolling graphene sheets. Bending the sheet costs elastic energy, but more energy is won by closing the dangling bonds at the edge to form the seamless tube. Tubes with diameters well below 1 nm are unstable because the bending energy is too large, very wide single-walled tubes collapse into double-layer ribbons to saturate the van der Vals forces between the walls. There are single-walled tubes and multi-walled tubes. Multi-walled tubes are concentric arrangements of single-walled tubes. Carbon nanotubes are a special type of quantum wires. But different from other quantum wires, not only are they hollow, they also have a perfect surface, with no dangling bonds, no surface reconstruction, and no surface scattering of charge carriers. As a consequence charge transport in carbon nanotubes is ballistic even in fairly long tubes. The confinement of the electrons to the surface of a long and thin cylinder leads to specific features in the electronic density of states and to the existence of semiconducting and metallic tubes, respectively, depending on how the tube is rolled (diameter, helicity). S. Roth (B) School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul, Korea; Sineurop Nanotech GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] O. Hayden, K. Nielsch (eds.), Molecular- and Nano-Tubes, C Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9443-1_8,

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Fig. 8.1 Computer model of a single-walled carbon nanotube

a)

b)

c)

d)

Fig. 8.2 High resolution TEM images (a) of ordinary soot (Courtesy R.-G. Gilg) (b, c) of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (Courtesy Philipp Kohler-Redlich, Courtesy Seamus Curran), and (d) of thin bundles of single-walled tubes (Courtesy Shanghai Yangtze Nanomaterials Co., Ltd.)

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From the chemical point of view, carbon nanotubes are a sort of soot, albeit a very special sort of soot. Soot consists of carbon nanoparticles. In ordinary soot these particles are globular or flaky. Even in ordinary soot now and then tubular particles are found. The art of synthesizing carbon nanotubes consists of conducting the soot growing process in such a way that predominantly tubes are formed. Figure 8.2 shows high resolution transmission electron microscope images of ordinary soot particles, a multi-walled nanotube with about 14 concentric tubes, a multi-walled tube with 70 walls, and some bundles of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Conventional soot is produced by the incomplete combustion of carboncontaining materials (wood, coal, gasoline, oil, hydrocarbons etc.). Nanotubes are produced by evaporating graphite in inert atmosphere, by pyrolizing (cracking) hydrocarbons, or by disproportionation of carbon monoxide. The heat for evaporation is generated by arc discharge, laser beams, or solar furnaces. For pyrolysis resistive heating of tubular furnaces is sufficient. In most cases catalysts are used. These are usually metal droplets, in most cases droplets of transition metals like iron, nickel, cobalt, and of their alloys with rare earth metals.

8.2 Carbon Arc Synthesis Probably the simplest method to grow carbon nanotubes is by the carbon arc technique. This technique was originally used by W. Kraetschmer to synthesize fullerenes [1]. Figure 8.3 shows a student working on a Kraetschmer generator (Courtesy Serhat Sahakalkan). He is just inserting a graphite electrode into the reaction chamber. This chamber is shown schematically in Fig. 8.4 [2]. The chamber is filled with an inert gas, usually helium at about 500 mbar, and an electric arc is ignited between two graphite electrodes. For the electric arc, a simple power supply as from welding machines on construction sites can be used. About 100 A and 50 V

Fig. 8.3 Synthesis of carbon nanotubes using the carbon arc method [1]

266 Fig. 8.4 Schematic drawing of Krätschmer generator for nanotube synthesis by the carbon arc method [2]. (Note that here the cathode is a graphite rod, whereas in Figs. 8.3 and 8.5 a large graphite disc has been used)

N. Grobert et al. To Pump

Gas Inlet

mechanical feedthrough

-

Graphite rods

+ electrode

electrode Window

are needed. The heat produced by the arc evaporates the graphite anode, the carbon vapour cools by collision with helium atoms and condenses into nanoparticles. The wall of the reaction chamber has to be water cooled to remove excess heat. A variety of particles is produced at the same time: fullerenes, nanotubes, ordinary soot (amorphous carbon), and graphitic chiplets. If our goal is to synthesize nanotubes, the other particles are just “by-products”. If the Kraetschmer generator is run without catalyst, the nanotubes obtained are mostly multi-walled tubes. To obtain single-walled tubes, metal particles (nickel, iron, cobalt, rare earth metals [3]) have to be injected into the arc [4]. A convenient method is to drill a hole into the anode and to fill this hole with a mixture of metal powder and graphite powder. Figure 8.5 (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel) shows the “harvest” of a typical run in the Kraetschmer generator. The fluffy spider web stuff is an indication of the presence of many single-walled tubes. Usually a run yields some 100 mg of “raw material” where about 30% of the carbon material are in the form of single-walled carbon nanotubes. In addition there are some wt% of metallic catalyst remains in the raw material.

Fig. 8.5 Harvesting a nanotube-rich “spider web” product synthesized by the carbon arc method (Courtesy Serhat Sahakalkan)

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8.3 Laser Ablation Synthesis An alternative method to create carbon vapour is by laser ablation of graphite (Fig. 8.6) (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel): A laser beam hits a graphite target into which catalyst particles have been incorporated. The vapour is transported to cooler parts of a reaction tube by an inert carrier gas and a soot, rich in single-walled carbon nanotubes, is deposited [5]. The laser ablation set-up used by the Stuttgart team is shown in Fig. 8.7 (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel). Figure 8.8 (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel) shows the water cooled collector, where most of the tubes are deposited. Laser ablation tubes are considered as “highest quality” tubes. Usually more than 50% of the carbon material is in tube form, the tubes are longer than in the carbon arc process, they have less defects, and networks of tubes have a higher electrical conductivity. A typical run yields about 100 mg of tubes, and about 10 g can be produced per week.

Fig. 8.6 Schematic drawing of equipment for nanotube synthesis by the laser ablation method (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel)

Fig. 8.7 Laser ablation equipment for nanotube synthesis as used by the Stuttgart team (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel)

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Fig. 8.8 Water cooled collector in Stuttgart laser ablation nanotube synthesis system (Courtesy Bjoern Hornbostel)

8.4 Chemical Vapour Deposition – CVD (Pyrolysis, Cracking) In this method carbon vapour is produced by pyrolysis (cracking) of hydrocarbons. The set-up is just as simple as the Kraetschmer generator, except that the furnace is perhaps somewhat more expensive than the power supply from the welding machine and hydrocarbon gases are more difficult and more dangerous to handle in a laboratory than graphite electrodes (at least for physicists). Figure 8.9 shows a schematic drawing of the CVD set-up (Courtesy School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul). It just consists of a quartz tube which can be heated up to 1,000◦ C or a little bit more. A substrate carrying a thin

Fig. 8.9 Schematic drawing of reactor for nanotube synthesis by the chemical vapour deposition (CVD) method (Courtesy School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul)

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metal film (catalyst) is placed in the tube, the tube is heated, and a hydrocarbon gas is blown across. Usually the hydrocarbon gas is diluted by an inert transport gas, such as argon. Flowmeters or mass flow controllers are used at the entrance side and a pressure gauge and a controlled valve at the exit. Methane, ethane, or acetylene are used as hydrocarbon gases (“carbon feedstock”). Sometimes argon is just bubbled through benzene or hexane, and sometimes experimentalists content themselves with bubblers for gas flow control. Very often additional gases, like hydrogen, NH3 , or water vapour are added at special steps of the reaction process: hydrogen for cleaning the substrate or reducing the catalyst, if this had been added in salt form like FeCl3 or Fe(NO3 )3 ; NH3 for “etching away” by-products of amorphous carbon; small amounts of water vapour for keeping the catalyst longer alive. The photograph of Fig. 8.10 shows the CVD set-up used by the Stuttgart team (Courtesy Sineurop Nanotech GmbH) and that of Fig. 8.11 shows one of the CVD reactors of the “Nanotube Factory” in Seoul (Courtesy School of Electrical Engineering, Korea

Fig. 8.10 Reactor used by Stuttgart team for carbon nanotube growth by chemical vapour deposition (Courtesy Sineurop Nanotech GmbH)

Fig. 8.11 One of the CVD reactors of the “Nanotube Factory” in Seoul (Courtesy School of Electrical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul)

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Fig. 8.12 Cambridge CVD reactor for nanotube synthesis and in-situ winding of nanotube yarn [6]

University, Seoul). The Stuttgart set-up is mainly used to grow nanotubes on silicon chips. At temperatures below 900◦ C predominantly multi-walled tubes are grown, if the temperature is above 1,100◦ C the tubes are single-walled. To grow single-walled nanotubes at lower temperatures, the carbon activity must be lowered, for example by operating at lower pressures, and the thickness of the catalyst film should be at most 1 nm. The CVD method is very versatile and can be modified in many ways. Figure 8.12 shows an example where the furnace is kept vertically, where the nanotubes form some spider web material inside the tube, and where this web is grabbed and in-situ spun into a yarn [6]. In this case, the feedstock and catalyst are injected as liquids, such as toluene and ferrocene respectively, and sometimes a promoter of thiophene is also added. The CVD method can be easily upscaled for large-scale production. Actually, several companies are building plants with production capacities of tons and hundreds of tons of multi-walled carbon nanotubes per year. An important feature in large-scale production is the fluidized bed technique. Here the catalyst is not deposited on a silicon chip but attached to microparticles or nanoparticles of a metallic oxide, say to magnesia (MgO) or of zeolites. In a vertical furnace these particles float on the gas beam entering from the bottom of the tube, thus allowing for intense contact of catalyst and carbon feedstock. Another variant of CVD is compatible with semiconductor technology. Figure 8.13 shows an example of a “forest” or “lawn” of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on a silicon chip (Courtesy Martti Kaempgen), and Fig. 8.14 shows a network

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Fig. 8.13 Nanotube “forest” or “lawn” on a silicon chip as example of CVD grown carbon nanotubes (SEM image) (Courtesy Martti Kaempgen)

Fig. 8.14 Example of CVD grown nanotubes: Nanotube network in a thin silicon nitride membrane (TEM image) [7]

of single-walled nanotubes an a thin membrane of silicon carbide [7]. This is a particular case where it is desirable to grow high quality multiwalled nanotubes or single walled nanotubes at lower temperatures, by operating at a lower pressure, and careful control of the catalyst [8]. A special example of the compatibility of nanotube growth and semiconductor technology is Fig. 8.15, where we show a 20 nm multi-walled carbon nanotube growing out of a nanohole etched into a silicon chip (Courtesy Infineon) – as a first step towards a VIA, a vertical access interconnect, a vertical conducting lead on a chip, outperforming copper leads because of a much higher current density and because of lower tendency for electromigration. A useful factor of CVD is that

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Fig. 8.15 Example of CVD grown nanotubes: A muliwalled carbon nanotube growing out of a nanosized hole etched into a silicon chip (SEM image) (Courtesy Infineon)

the nanotubes only grow where there is catalyst. This allows the patterned grow of nanotube forests, by lithographically patterning the catalyst. A particular form of CVD which grows rather high forests or carpets is called “supergrowth” [9]. The nanotubes form carpets because their high density means that the nanotubes must grow vertically to avoid bumping into each other. A particular combination of catalyst and supporting oxide is used. Fe on Al2 O3 , gives a very efficient, high density nucleation, which results in the vertically oriented forests. Supergrowth uses a feedstock of ethylene diluted by hydrogen plus a low concentration of water to ensure prolonged growth, so that the forests end up a few mm tall. The water is believed to act as a mild etchant which keeps the catalyst active for longer. Thus supergrowth is the combination of water addition and catalyst, not just water alone. Figure 8.16 shows a side view image of SWNT mats grown by supergrowth [10]. An important aspect of supergrowth is that say 5 mm forests grow from 1 nm layer of catalyst, a yield of ∼106 times. Thus the purity of the nanotubes in terms of residual catalyst content is extremely high, compared to other CVD, arc or laser methods. The forests can contain amorphous carbon, which is deposited on the nanotube sidewalls. A further variant of CVD is to use plasma enhancement, or plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD). The function of the plasma is to partly dissociate the carbon feedstock. This allows growth to occur on less active catalysts, at lower pressures, or at lower temperatures than would typically be possible. However, PECVD will also lead to the uncatalysed deposition of amorphous carbon. It is necessary to stop this parallel reaction by providing a process to etch the amorphous carbon, for example by diluting the hydrocarbon feedstock with hydrogen or ammonia. Many labs have PECVD systems for other processing. Not all of them are suitable for nanotube growth. They are often RF PECVD which is not so useful, as it

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Fig. 8.16 Forest of SWNTs grown on Al-Fe-Al trilayer catalyst by remote microwave assisted PECVD, similar to supergrowth method [10]

often leads to an aggressive atmosphere which etches any nanotubes, or gives ion bombardment which causes disordering. A simple form of PECVD is DC, but operated at a low power. Another is microwave PECVD, where the ion energy is low, so disordering effects are less. DC or RF PECVD does not dissociate molecular hydrogen, so this is why ammonia is traditionally used as the etchant gas in that case. However, it does lead to the accidental incorporation of nitrogen, but this is not usually critical in these applications. A further form of gentle PECVD is hot-wire assisted deposition. The hot wire (of W or Re at 1,800◦ C) will dissociate not only the hydrocarbon but also H2 . An important factor in PECVD is that the electric field of the plasma sheath can be used to vertically align the tubes, even when not densely packed [11]. This allows us to produce ordered arrays of vertically aligned tubes for applications such as field emission or sensors (Fig. 8.17). The growth location is defined lithographically, growth only occurs where there is catalyst.

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Fig. 8.17 Ordered array of vertically aligned multiwalled nanotubes grown for field emission applications [11]

8.5 Disproportionation of Carbon Monoxide This method is a special version of the CVD technique. It is usually abbreviated by the acronym HiPCO, which stands for high pressure carbon monoxide. The feedstock is carbon monoxide, which at a certain pressure and temperature regime disproportionates into elementary carbon and carbon dioxide: 2 CO < − > C + CO2 Under the right conditions and with the right catalyst the carbon gas condenses into single-walled carbon nanotubes. The catalyst could be iron, and it could be mixed to the carbon monoxide gas in form of gaseous iron hexacarbonyle, Fe(CO)6 . HiPCO carbon nanotubes are already produced on an industrial scale. HiPCO tubes are usually of higher quality (higher electrical conductivity in films and networks) than other mass-produced CVD tubes, but they also are more expensive.

8.6 The Role of the Catalyst A transition metal catalyst is needed to produce most forms of carbon nanostructures, and is essential to produce SWNTs. In the high temperature processes such as the laser and arc methods, the carbon atoms and metal atoms both condense to form clusters. The ambient gas pressure is set to control a cooling rate so that the catalyst cluster size is in the necessary range when the temperature reaches the growth range of 1,500–1,200◦ C. The catalyst is liquid in this range. Puretzky et al. [12] have used time-lapse laser diagnostics to measure the evolution of carbon – catalyst

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Fig. 8.18 Model formulated by Puretzky et al. [12] for nanotube growth by laser ablation synthesis

plume, and they formulated the model shown in Fig. 8.18. It is likely that a similar mechanism occurs in the arc process but the possibility of measurements is less. The mechanism is roughly as follows. A limited number of transition metal atoms condense into a cluster or droplet which is still in its liquid form. Carbon atoms have condensed elsewhere into a carbon fullerene cluster. The carbon atoms and clusters land on the metal droplet and dissolve in it. This lowers the metal’s melting point to the eutectic point. As the temperature falls, the carbon solubility limit falls, and the carbon droplet becomes super-saturated. The carbon precipitates out as a series of small or single walled nanotubes, looking like a see-urchin. This is seen in postdeposition TEM analyses. Thus many nanotubes grow from a single catalyst droplet [13]. The carbon diffuses across to the growing tube. It is likely that most growth occurs when the catalyst is liquid, as diffusion rates fall sharply when it solidifies. Nanotube nucleation is believed to occur by a cap forming on top of the catalyst, anchored by C-metal bonds to the catalyst [13]. The cap then lifts off as more carbon atoms are added to the bottom of the cap. This is root growth, which is the dominant growth mechanism for laser and arc single-walled carbon nanotubes (Fig. 8.19). In laser or arc methods, metal combinations can be more efficient than single metals, because alloying gives a lower melting eutectic. Rare earth metals have also been proposed to lower the surface tension of the traditional transition metal catalysts, Fe, Co and Ni. Nucleation and growth is slightly different in CVD. Generally, the growth temperature is lower than in laser. The catalyst droplet has not cooled from a much higher temperature, so that there is a sudden super-saturation. Generally, catalysts droplets form and one nanotube grown from each droplet. There are a number of different regimes. The catalyst in most forms of CVD is actually on a “support” which is often an oxide such as SiO2 or Al2 O3 . The most active catalyst metals,

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Fig. 8.19 Root growth as dominant mechanism for laser ablation and arc single-walled carbon nanotubes

deposit catalyst

re-structure anneal

grow CNTs

Fe, Co and Ni, all de-wet these oxides when they are annealed at higher temperatures. Of these metals, Fe will oxidise in ambient conditions, but the oxide is reduced under the reducing growth conditions, and this breaks up the catalyst into nano-particles, because of the volume change. The size of the catalyst nano-particles is proportional to the initial thickness of the catalyst film. Growth occurs and for the smaller particles, a single nanotube will grow from each catalyst nano-particle, so that the nanotube diameter will roughly equal that of the catalyst particle. So, very small catalyst particles make SWNT, while larger particles make MWNTs. Above a certain limit of about 80 nm, larger catalyst particles will eventually create more than one nanotube. The catalyst is only active when it is in this nanoparticle form, as this gives the large surface area. Thus, low temperature is most successful if the continuous catalyst film can be transformed into nano-particles even at that low temperature [8]. The catalyst acts by dehydrogenating the hydrocarbon feedstock, with the carbon atoms entering the catalyst nano-particle. The nucleation of a nanotube occurs when catalyst is super-saturated with carbon. A single carbon cap forms on one side of the particle [14]. It grows by adding carbon atoms to its base. This will become root growth. Growth continues by a clear surface continuing to dissociate the hydrocarbon, and carbon atoms diffusing across the particle to the growth site. Note that carbon is an interstitial impurity in these metals. The easiest diffusion path is one layer below the surface. Due to size effects, bulk diffusion is harder. SWNTs grow by surface or subsurface diffusion of the carbon atoms [15]. If the catalyst particle is rather larger, bulk diffusion becomes more important because the amount of surface is less. The growth mode changes over to tip growth. The catalyst becomes entrained in the tip of the growing nanotube. Some clear surface still exists to dissociate the feedstock, and the carbon dissolves in the catalyst. The nanotube grows by the catalyst excreting the nanotube behind it as a series of graphitic walls. The strength of the C–C bonds means that the catalyst particle often undergoes distortions as growth continues [16]. There is debate about whether the catalyst is solid or liquid during CVD growth. For bulk CVD of SWNTs, it is likely that the catalyst is liquid. However, direct in-situ experimental measurements show that for lower temperature growth, the catalyst does not need to be liquid; the diffusion rates are high enough to account for growth rates [16]. Finally, in-situ environmental photoemission studies at realistic growth pressures and gases have shown that the catalyst is in the metallic state. The metal

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Fig. 8.20 (a) In-situ image of catalyst transformed into solid nanoparticle, awaiting to begin growth [16], (b) In-situ image of a growing SWNT [16]

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oxide is not active. Also, post-growth TEM often finds Ni or Fe carbides. These are not the active catalysts, these metastable phases form during the cool-down (Fig. 8.20a, b) [16]. Acknowledgement This work was supported by World Class University (WCU, R32-2008-00010082-0) Project of the Korean Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and by the EU 6th Framework Research Project CANAPE

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References 1. W. Kraetschmer et al., Nature 347, 354 (1990). 2. R. Saito, G. Dresselhaus, and M. S. Dresselhaus, Physical Properties of Carbon Nanotubes, Imperial College Press, London (1998). 3. Y. Saito et al., J. Phys. Chem. 99, 16076 (1995). 4. C. Journet et al., Nature 388, 756 (1997). 5. T. Guo et al., J. Phys. Chem. 99, 10694 (1995); T. Guo et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 243, 49 (1995); A. Thess et al., Science 273, 483 (1996). 6. Y. L. Li, I. A. Kinloch, and A. H. Windle, Science 304, 276 (2004). 7. G. Gu, G. Philipp, X. Wu, M. Burghard, A. M. Bittner, and S. Roth, Adv. Funct. Mater. 11 (4), 295 (2001). 8. M. Cantoro, S. Hofmann, S. Pisana, V. Scardaci, A. Parvez, C. Ducati, A. C. Ferrari, A. M. Blackburn, K. Y. Wang, and J. Robertson, Nano Lett. 6, 1107 (2006). 9. K. Hata, D. N. Futaba, K. Mizuno, T. Namai, M. Yumura, and S. Iijima, Science 306, 1362 (2004). 10. M. Chhowalla, K. B. K. Teo, C. Ducati, N. L. Rupesinghe, G. A. J. Amaratunga, A. C. Ferrari, D. Roy, J. Robertson, and W. I. Milne, J. Appl. Phys. 90, 5308 (2001). 11. K. B. K. Teo, S.-B. Lee, M. Chhowallah, V. Smet, Vu Thien Binh, O. Groening, M. Castignolles, A. Loiseau, G. Piro, P. Leganeux, D. Pribat, D. G. Hasko, H. Ahmed, G. A. J. Amaratunga, and W. I. Milne, Nanotechnology 14, 204 (2003). 12. A. A. Puretzky, H. Schittenhelm, Xudong Fan, M. J. Lance, L. F. Allard Jr., and D. B. Geohegan, Phys Rev B 65 245525 (2002). 13. J. Gavillet, A. Loiseau, C. Journet, F. Willaime, F. Ducastelle, and J.-C. Charlier, Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 275504 (2001). 14. Y. Shibuta, and S. Murayama, Chem. Phys. Letts. 382 381 (2003). 15. S. Hofmann, G. Csanyi, A. C. Ferrari, M. C. Payne, and J. Robertson, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 036101 (2005). 16. S. Hofmann, R. Sharma, C. Ducati, G. Du, C. Mattevi, C. Cepek, M. Cantro, S. Pisana, A. Parvez, F. Cervantes-Sodi, A. C. Ferrari, R. Dunin-Borkowski, S. Lizzit, L. Petaccia, A. Goldini, and J. Robertson, Nano. Lett. 7, 602 (2007).

Chapter 9

Nanotube and Graphene Polymer Composites for Photonics and Optoelectronics T. Hasan, V. Scardaci, P.H. Tan, F. Bonaccorso, A.G. Rozhin, Z. Sun, and A.C. Ferrari Abstract Polymer composites are an attractive near-term means to exploit the unique properties of single wall carbon nanotubes and graphene. This is particularly true for composites aimed at photonic and optoelectronic applications, where a number of devices have already been demonstrated. These include transparent conductors, saturable absorbers, electroluminescent and photovoltaic devices. Here, we present an overview of such composites, from solution processing of the raw materials, their sorting, characterization, to their incorporation into polymers, device fabrication and testing.

9.1 Introduction Incorporation of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into polymer matrices was first reported in Ref. [5]. Since then, polymer composites of nanostructured carbon materials have developed into a vast research area, mostly focusing on their mechanical applications [72, 82, 88, 237, 281, 382, 486]. A notable difference between CNT/graphenepolymer composites for mechanical applications and optics/photonics is the method by which CNTs/graphene flakes are incorporated into the host matrix. Strong interaction between these carbon nanomaterials and the host polymer is the key for mechanical strength. This is typically attained by functionalization [20, 23, 75, 105–107, 172, 486] and/or in-situ polymerization [117, 237, 281, 327, 349, 449, 475]. These incorporation methods and the mechanical characterizations of the resultant materials will not be covered here. An overview of current progress can be found, e.g., in Refs. [81, 82, 156, 307]. The fabrication and characterization processes of CNT and graphene based composites for photonics and optoelectronics differ from those aimed at mechanical applications. For optical grade composites, fine dispersion, without covalent functionalization, and control of CNT-bundle size are of key importance [96, 125, 220, 358–360, 363, 370, 371, 376, 380, 396, 478]. Different strategies have been developed to produce/grow graphene and transfer it onto flexible substrates [18, 40]. Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) of graphite [161, 166, 271] is an economic, A.C. Ferrari (B) Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB3 0FA, UK e-mail: [email protected]


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up-scalable and promising approach for photonic and optoelectronic applications. A significant effort is ongoing to achieve graphene mono-layer enriched dispersions [160, 161, 166, 271, 284, 411]. For both CNTs and graphene, once the initial dispersion is produced, the fabrication, characterization and integration into devices of the resulting composites follows a similar protocol. We will therefore focus mostly on CNTs, adding additional information on graphene, where necessary. This chapter is organized as follows. Section 9.3 reviews CNT-dispersion via solution processing, which is essential to overcome the insolubility or near insolubility of unfunctionalized CNTs into various solvents compatible with host polymer matrices. The dispersion of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes (SWNTs) in aqueous, non-aqueous solvents and liquid crystals are separately discussed in Sections 9.3.1, 9.3.2 and 9.3.3, respectively. Dispersion of graphene in aqueous and non-aqueous media follows a similar principle, though the choice of surfactants is limited due to the two dimensional nature of graphene. This is discussed in Section 9.4. Recent progress in density gradient based sorting of SWNTs, which can be used to finetune the optoelectronic device performances is covered in Section 9.5. Section 9.6 discusses inkjet printing of SWNTs. Optical characterization of the SWNT dispersions, with particular focus on the estimation of loading and investigation of the bundle size, is discussed in Sections 9.7.1. and 9.7.2. Section 9.8 covers the preparation of SWNT/graphene-polymer composites for optical applications (Section 9.8.1) and the alignment of SWNTs (Section 9.8.1.1). The desirable characteristics of host polymer matrices with a list of available commercial polymers are presented in Section 9.8.2. The key optical characterizations for such composites, such as Z-scan, photoluminescence, Raman and pump-probe spectroscopies, are summarized in Section 9.9. Particular emphasis is given to Raman spectroscopy, which is one of the most powerful, yet non-destructive characterization techniques available for carbon nanomaterials. Section 9.10 briefly discusses some optical/photonic applications of SWNT-polymer composites. Section 9.11 reviews the application of SWNT-polymer composites as mode-locker in ultra fast lasers. Finally, Section 9.12 discusses graphene based saturable absorbers for ultrafast pulse generation.

9.2 Nanotubes and Graphene for Photonics SWNTs exhibit strong optical absorption, covering a broad spectral range from UV to near IR [134, 151, 185, 193, 201, 207, 265, 319, 462]. To a first approximation, their band gap varies inversely with the diameter. This can, in principle, be finetuned by modifying the growth parameters [191, 200, 249]. Isolated semiconducting SWNTs (s-SWNTs) and small SWNT bundles exhibit photoluminescence (PL) [17, 63, 175, 187, 255–258, 302–304, 319, 324, 342, 421, 433, 463]. PL is quenched for increasing bundle size and the presence of metallic SWNTs (m-SWNTs) [64, 138, 158, 296, 316, 319, 421, 433]. The PL properties of SWNTs have been extensively investigated over the past few years [17, 63, 175, 187, 255–258, 302–304, 319, 324, 330, 342, 353, 421, 433, 439, 463], and the excitonic nature of electronic

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transitions in SWNTs has been theoretically predicted [10, 66, 197, 335, 402, 492] and experimentally proven [293, 456]. Sub-picosecond carrier relaxation time was also observed in SWNTs [76, 152, 168–170, 178, 230, 246, 283, 329, 351, 427]. In addition, they show significant third-order optical nonlinearities, as theoretically predicted [78, 184, 286, 287] and experimentally confirmed [44, 93, 195, 268, 278, 427] by several groups. This fast nonlinear optical response is of great technological importance. SWNTs can be used to fabricate ultrafast optoelectronic devices, such as ultrafast sources, optical switches. These are crucial for various applications, for example, high bit rate optical fiber transmission, signal regeneration, dispersion compensator, etc. However, the heterogeneity, impurity and bundling of as-grown SWNTs make it difficult to precisely control the device parameters. Also, it is still difficult to use SWNTs directly grown on substrates [477] to fabricate efficient devices, due to scattering losses [39]. In this context, a more effective solution for the fabrication of SWNT based photonic and optoelectronic devices is to incorporate the processed SWNTs into polymer matrices [96, 125, 220, 358–360, 363, 370, 371, 376, 380, 396, 478]. Wet chemistry processes developed over the past few years can now be readily used. Indeed, it is now possible to untangle [15, 19, 100, 138, 158, 183, 245, 308, 319, 320, 405, 495] and sort SWNTs [12, 13, 41, 86]. A combination of wet chemistry with compatible non-aqueous solvents and polymers of appropriate properties is therefore a viable route for the fabrication of optoelectronic devices. Furthermore, this holds great promise for the mass production of inexpensive photonic devices and their simplified integration into various lightwave systems. A single layer graphene absorbs 2.3% of incident light [311]. This remains constant from the visible to the near infrared (NIR), due to the linear dispersion of Dirac electrons in graphene [40, 160, 311, 411]. As we discuss later in Section 9.12, such broad absorption band, coupled with ultrafast relaxation dynamics, make graphene one of the most promising candidates for next generation photonic and optoelectronic applications. A viable route for mass fabrication of such graphene based devices also follows a wet chemistry based strategy, similar to SWNTs [160, 411].

9.3 Nanotube Dispersion in Liquid Media As produced SWNTs usually form entangled networks of bundles or ropes [4, 77, 87, 192, 229, 261, 273, 364, 430, 431, 448] due to strong van der Waals interactions [140, 171, 229, 270, 364, 430]. In such entangled networks, SWNTs do not possess the optimum mechanical, thermal and optoelectronic properties [31, 69, 72, 82, 88, 239, 262, 382]. It is thus important to produce isolated/individual SWNTs from the bundles. Strong ultrasonic treatments in presence of water or non-aqueous solvents and ‘dispersants’ (e.g. surfactants, polymers etc., aiding the dispersion process) are commonly used to exfoliate highly aggregated SWNT networks into small bundles [100, 138, 157, 158, 183, 279, 299, 308, 319–331, 420, 495]. In the following sections, we present an overview of the methods to achieve

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dispersions with high concentration of individual SWNTs and small bundles without covalent functionalization. The SWNT dispersions thus obtained are mainly characterized by absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy, covered in the subsequent sections.

9.3.1 Nanotube Dispersion in Water The non-polar nature of unfunctionalized (i.e. pristine) SWNTs makes it hard to directly disperse them in a highly polar solvent like water without any functionalization [107, 267, 317, 426]. Therefore, much effort has been devoted to find suitable molecules to interface the non-polar sidewalls of nanotubes with water. To date, stable dispersions of pristine SWNTs in water have been achieved with the aid of ionic and non-ionic surfactants [183, 308, 319, 348, 423, 466], polymers [22, 308, 320], DNA [13, 64, 495], polypeptides [100, 474, 498] and cellulose derivatives [299, 420]. Covalent functionalization of SWNTs disrupts the extended π -network, hence changes their optoelectronic properties [20, 23, 24, 57, 254]. Micelles are aggregated surfactant molecules. The critical micelle concentration (CMC) is the concentration of surfactants in a liquid above which micelles are spontaneously formed [54]. At the CMC, the surface-area between two liquids (e.g., air-water interface) becomes loaded with surfactant molecules. Addition of any more surfactant molecules leads to the formation of micelles [54]. In aqueous solutions, a typical surfactant (e.g. SDBS) micelle arranges its hydrophillic heads in contact with water and the hydrophobic tails in the micelle center [54]. Surfactants, in concentration above the CMC, form micelles around individual SWNTs and small bundles, interfacing their non-polar tail with the tube sidewalls and their polar or ionic end with water, making SWNTs compatible with the aqueous medium [183, 296, 308, 319]. This creates a density difference between individualized and bundled SWNTs. For example, an individual SWNT encapsulated in an SDS micelle is less dense than a 7-tube bundle encapsulated by the same micelles [319]. After centrifugation, heavier bundles precipitate due to higher sedimentation coefficient [46], while the supernatant becomes enriched with individually suspended SWNTs. Several types of surfactants, both ionic and non-ionic, have been reported to stably suspend SWNTs in water [183, 308]. These include SDS, SDBS, SC, SDC, TDC, DTAB, CTAB on the ionic side, and the Triton-X and Brij series on the non-ionic side [183, 308], though the border between surfactant and polymer for the latter is arbitrary. Bile salt surfactants have recently been demonstrated to be very effective in individualizing SWNTs in aqueous dispersions [41]. Bile salts (e.g. SDC, TDC, SC) have a rigid molecular structure, consisting of a cholesterol group with dissimilar sides with a steroid skeleton with a carboxylic acid side-chain and one to three hydroxyl (–OH) groups on the steroid backbone [295, 391]. They are amphiphilic, having both hydrophobic and hydrophilic sides [391], enabling them to individualize SWNTs much more effectively than linear chain surfactants [41]. Figure 9.1 shows some surfactants and polymers commonly used to disperse SWNTs in different solvents.

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Fig. 9.1 Chemical structures of common surfactants and polymers used to disperse SWNTs in aqueous and organic solvents. SDS: sodium dodecyl sulfate; SDBS: sodium dodecylbenzenesulphonate; DTAB: dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide; CTAB: cetyltrimethylammonium bromide; PFO: poly(9,9-dioctylfluorenyl-2,7-diyl; PmPV: poly(p-phenlyenevinyleneco-2,5-dioctoxym-phenylenevinylene); PVP: polyvinylpyrrolidone; NaPSS: sodium polystyrene sulphonate; SC: sodium cholate; SDC: sodium deoxycholate; TDC: sodium taurodeoxycholate

Water-soluble polymers are reported to wrap around SWNTs [22, 320], thus facilitating their de-bundling and dispersion. In particular, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and its copolymers with vinyl acetate, acrylic acid, dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, polystyrene sulphonate, polyvinylsulphate can stably disperse SWNTs in water [320]. The wrapping by water-soluble polymers is thermodynamically favored by the removal of the hydrophobic interface between the nanotube sidewall and the aqueous medium [22, 320]. Cellulose derivatives, e.g. sodium carboxymethylcellulose (Na-CMC) [299, 420] and hydroxyethylcellulose [299] can also disperse a high amount of SWNTs without forming visible aggregations.

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DNA is also an excellent dispersant of SWNTs in water [64, 441, 495]. Reference [495] proposed that single-stranded DNA forms a helical wrapping around the tube sidewalls by π -stacking. They also showed that the binding free-energy of single stranded DNA to SWNTs is higher than that between two tubes, facilitating dispersion [495]. Other biomolecules, such as polypeptides, efficiently disperse SWNTs in water [100, 474, 498]. Reference [100] designed a peptide, called nano-1, which folds into an α-helix, whose hydrophobic side interacts with the tube sidewall, whereas the hydrophilic side interacts with water molecules. Increasing the aromatic residues within the peptides improves dispersion [498]. This can be further improved by cross-linking the peptides on the external side of the α-helixes [474].

9.3.2 Nanotube Dispersion in Non-aqueous Solvents Although the highest concentrations (>1.5 gL−1 ) of pristine, individualized SWNTs or small bundles have so far been achieved in water, the presence of dispersant molecules is not the best option in view of their integration in devices when preservation of the pristine electronic structure is necessary. Also, the aqueous medium is not suitable for SWNT integration into water-insoluble polymer composites. Therefore, much effort has been devoted to the dispersion of SWNTs in pure nonaqueous solvents, such as N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) [15, 19, 32, 33, 138, 158, 222, 236, 245]. A range of surfactants and polymers has also been investigated as dispersing agents in such solvents to improve the loading of unfunctionalized SWNTs [157–160, 198, 279, 403–405]. Ref. [15] proposed that important criteria for solvents to get good dispersion of SWNTs include high electron-pair donicity, β (hydrogen bond acceptance ability [242, 354]), low hydrogen bond donation parameter, α and high solvatochromic parameter [15], π ∗ . The latter describes the polarity and polarizability of solvents [285, 354]. Therefore, the Lewis basicity (i.e. electron pair acceptance ability [242, 285, 354]) without hydrogen donors is key to good dispersion of SWNTs [15]. However, this does not cover all the requirements. For example, Ref. [15] showed that, even though DMSO meets all the above criteria, it is only a mediocre solvent for SWNTs. In addition, highly polar alkyl amide solvents with “optimal geometries” are reported to be vital for good SWNT dispersion ability [245]. Amongst the amide solvents, NMP has been described as one of the most effective for dispersing pristine SWNTs [15, 19, 138, 158]. Pure NMP is able to disperse SWNTs with the highest fraction (∼70%) of individual tubes at a very low concentration (∼0.004 gL−1 ), with growing average bundle size as the SWNT concentration increases [138]. Individual tubes remain stable in NMP for at least 3 weeks [158]. Dispersion and stabilization of nanoparticles, e.g. nanotubes in pure solvents, can be explained by considering the relative solvent-solvent, solvent-particle and

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particle-particle interaction strengths [166]. Stable nanoparticle dispersions require the Gibbs free energy of mixing, ΔGmix , to be zero or negative [155]: ΔGmix = ΔHmix − TΔSmix

(9.1)

where, T is the absolute temperature, ΔHmix is the enthalpy of mixing and ΔSmix is the entropy change in the mixing process [166]. For large solute particles like graphene and nanotubes, ΔSmix is small [32, 166]. Therefore, for dispersion and stabilization of SWNTs in solvents, ΔHmix needs to be very small. This can be achieved by choosing a solvent whose surface energy is very close to that of SWNTs. This supports the experimental evidence of NMP being the best solvent in dispersing pristine SWNTs [32, 138, 158]. We also investigated non-ionic surfactants such as Triton-X 100, Pluronic F98, Igepal DM-970 in NMP as dispersing agents [158, 159]. Though they are able to disperse a higher amount of SWNTs than pure NMP, they do not help in individualizing nor stabilizing them [158, 159]. Interestingly, if polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) is added to SWNTs dispersed in pure NMP, spontaneous de-bundling occurs [158], even after re-aggregation of SWNTs [159]. This process depends on diameter and chirality [158]. In addition, reduction of PVP concentration initiates re-aggregation of dispersed SWNTs, thereby proving PVP to be essential to stabilize the dispersions [157]. Figure 9.2 illustrates the stabilizing effect of PVP concentration on SWNT dispersions in NMP [157]. Amphiphilic block copolymers may also be used to efficiently individualize SWNTs in DMF [198]. Indeed, they act as surfactants, having a hydrophobic block and a hydrophilic one. Polystyrene-block-polyacrilic acid (PS-b-PAA) forms micelles around individual SWNTs by gradual addition of water. The external hydrophilic blocks are finally cross-linked giving stable micelles, see Fig. 9.3 [198].

Fig. 9.2 Photograph of SWNT dispersion sets prepared with gradually lower PVP concentration (from left to right; 8.75, 6.56, 4.38, 2.63, 1.75, 1.31, 0.88, 0.44, 0.22, 0 gL−1 ) with SWNT concentration (0.02 to ∼0.0002 gL−1 ). Previously dispersed SWNTs (∼0.013 gL−1 ) re-aggregate below ∼3 gL−1 of PVP concentration [157]

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Fig. 9.3 Scheme of the individualization process of a SWNT by the PS-b-PAA block copolymer by creating micelle-like structures by cross-linking. Adapted from [198]

Conjugated polymers can also disperse high amounts of SWNTs in nonaqueous solvents [403–406]. Poly-[(m-phenylenevinylene)-co-(2,5-dioctyloxy-pphenylenevinylene)] (PmPV) and its derivatives preferentially wrap around bundles rather than individual tubes, when chloroform is used as solvent [405, 406]. PmPV derivatives containing ionic side-groups can also disperse SWNT bundles in protic solvents like ethanol [403]. The dispersion mechanism is proposed to be π -π stacking and van der Waals interaction between PmPV and tube sidewalls [403]. On the other hand, if a hyper-branched variant of PmPV is used, SWNTs can be individually dispersed in chloroform [404]. In this case, the branched structure of the polymer forms cavities that are suitable to host individual SWNTs [404]. Individual SWNTs can also be separated in THF if poly(p-phenylene-1,2-vinylene) (PPV) is co-polymerized with units of p-phenylene-1,1-vinylidene [443]. The resulting copolymer (coPPV) has structural defects (the 1,1-vinylidene units) that allow the polymer backbone to fit the curvature of the nanotube sidewalls better than the homopolymer, thus wrapping around the SWNT by π -stacking [443].

9.3.3 Nanotube Dispersion in Liquid Crystals The unique structure of Liquid Crystal (LC) molecules enables them to be aligned by surface treatment or by an applied field. The highly anisotropic interaction of SWNTs with light [6, 266, 387] dictates the need of their alignment parallel to the light polarization, so to maximize their absorption with minimal loading [179, 309, 357]. Dispersion of SWNTs in LC is therefore an attractive proposition for SWNT alignment, due to interaction with LCs, for photonic/optical applications [102, 243, 244, 276, 369, 438]. In fact, alignment of multiwall nanotube (MWNT) bundles was reported using E7 LCs and applying an electric field, even higher than the orientational ordering of E7 itself [101, 102]. In addition, even with very small CNT concentrations (e.g. 100 mg L−1 [161], with >50% SLG and BLG [161, 166, 271, 284]. Figure 9.4 shows TEM statistics and images of typical exfoliated flakes obtained by LPE.

9.5 Sorting Nanotubes by Chirality and Electronic Type Using Density Gradient Differentiation The separation of SWNTs by different chiralities from as-grown, heterogeneous mixture of SWNTs would be the ideal way to exploit their full potential in any applications, since one could mix the different chiralities according to the needs. This is particularly important for optoelectronic applications, when SWNTs with defined electronic properties, diameter or chirality are most preferable. To date, different approaches for post-growth selection have been proposed, such as chromatography [496], electrophoresis [104, 235, 259], and conventional [461] or density gradient ultracentrifugation(DGU) [12, 13, 41, 86, 482]. Amongst these techniques, DGU has emerged as the most promising and versatile strategy. Indeed, separation of nanotubes by length [113], number of walls [147], diameter [13], metallic vs semiconducting (m/s) character [12] and chirality [41] has been reported. Here we will use “sorting” to indicate a generic process of postgrowth nanotube selection; “separation” to indicate a process resulting in a sample with diameter in a certain range or to indicate separation of m/s nanotubes; “enrichment” to indicate a process resulting in an increase of the percentage of nanotubes with certain chirality with respect to the pristine material. Analytical ultracentrifugation is a well established and versatile technique for a wide range of applications [418]. It is, for example, useful to determine molecular weight [85], thermodynamic [361] and hydrodynamic [162] properties of molecules. Preparative ultracentrifugation was historically used in separation and manipulation of biological molecules such as DNA, RNA and different proteins [46, 84, 129, 144, 163, 228, 313]. When a uniform medium is used, this is referred to as differential ultracentrifugation [418]. If density gradient is introduced, this is knows as DGU [30, 337]. Differential ultracentrifugation separates particles based on their sedimentation rate [418], which determines how quickly they sediment out of the fluid in which they are dispersed, in response to a centrifugal force acting on them. In DGU, particles are ultracentrifuged in a preformed density gradient medium (DGM) [30, 337, 467]. During the process, they move along an ultracentrifuge cell, dragged by the centrifugal force, until they reach the corresponding isopycnic point, i.e., the point where their buoyant density equals that of the surrounding DGM [467]. The buoyant density is defined as the density of the medium at the corresponding isopycnic point (measured in g/cm3 ), which depends on the dispersion, on the type of surfactant and may also be different in diverse gradient media [180]. Such process depends only on the particles buoyant density, and is

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also known as isopycnic separation. If the ultracentrifugation is stopped before the particles achieve their isopycnic points, a zonal separation (ZS) is attained [46]. The latter also depends on the particle sedimentation rates [46]. Isopycnic separation thus allows sorting and separation of SWNTs based on their density differences [12, 13, 86]. The DGM choice is largely driven by the material one needs to separate. Salts (such as cesium chloride, lithium chloride, sodium chloride, etc.), sucrose, and Optiprep, i.e. 60% w/v iodixanol (a non-ionic iso-osmotic derivative of tri-iodobenzoic acid [126]) solution in water [12, 41, 86] (ρ ∼1.32 g cm−3 ), are usually exploited in isopycnic separations. Due to the low viscosity of the DGM, density gradients produced by salts are less stable compared to those produced with Sucrose and Optiprep [41]. Moreover, salts induce strong aggregation on the hydrophobic solutes [55, 70] that sometimes affect the separation process itself [41]. Also, the percentage of sucrose used as DGM can have a significant impact on the separation [41]. Sucrose has high viscosity, increasing at high concentrations, and is mainly used in DGU for ZS rather than for isopycnic separation [41]. On the other hand, Optiprep is better suited for isopycnic separation due to its higher viscosity than salts, and better density tunability than sucrose [41]. Moreover, it has an almost constant viscosity as function of the gradient density [489], low osmolarity [109], is dialyzable and its gradients are self-forming [126]. There are different approaches (linear, non-linear or step gradient [12, 80, 133, 390, 447]) to prepare the density gradient. These are related to how the density of the liquid medium is varied across the length of a centrifuge cell. Step gradients are created by a series of steps increasing in density in order to separate the particles of interest from their undesirable neighbors [390, 447]. Non-linear gradients are formed so that the particles sediment at the same rate over the entire length of the cell [80]. Linear gradients are used to separate materials with very small differences in their buoyant density [46, 133] e.g. in SWNT sorting, as the difference in densities of SWNT is very small. Linear gradients are created directly in centrifuge cells either by using a linear gradient maker or making discrete layers of gradually increasing densities. In the latter case, the discrete layers diffuse into each other and form a linear density gradient [12, 86]. For sorting, a dispersion containing the SWNTs, after sonication and preultracentrifugation, is inserted in the density gradient at the top or at a point where the density of the prepared gradient closely matches that of the solution. This can be determined by measuring the density of the SWNT dispersions and comparing it to that of different layers before their diffusion. The dispersion is then ultracentrifuged until equilibrium is reached. Because of the different densities of the gradient medium along the centrifuge cell, SWNTs are redistributed at their respective isopycnic points [12, 167]. A schematic of the process is presented in Fig. 9.5a. The appearance of different color bands is an indication of SWNTs sorting [12, 86]. The colors depend on the peak optical absorption. Thus, e.g., the purple color (non spectral red-blue combination) of the top band in Fig. 9.5b is due to (6,5) tubes that absorb at ∼570 nm (eh22 ) (yellow). After ultracentrifugation, the sorted SWNTs are removed from the ultracentrifuge cells, layer by layer, using a fractionation technique. This is a widely used

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Fig. 9.5 Sorting of SWNTs using isopycnic separation: (a) Schematic of the process. (b) Sorted SWNTs at their isopycnic points. Adapted from Ref. [12]

process in life sciences by which certain quantities of a mixture are separately extracted to a large number of aliquots, whose composition varies according to the density gradient of the original mixture [407]. Fractionation methods are classified into three main categories: piston [47], down [48] and upward [47] displacement. For SWNT separation, upward displacement fractionation can be used to extract small aliquots [41, 86]. A dense solution, Fluorinert FC-40, is inserted with a needle at the bottom, pushing the gradient up into an inverted collection needle [7]. Because the density of the tubes changes with their diameter, considering a uniform surfactant coverage, this immediately links buoyant density to tube diameter, thus enabling an effective diameter sorting by isopycnic separation [12, 13, 41, 86]. Natural bile salts [356], such as SC, SDC or TDC are the most suitable surfactants for isopycnic separation, due to their steroid skeleton polar tail. These, in aqueous environments, expose their hydrophilic sides to the water and the hydrophobic sides to the SWNTs [465]. This is a key requirement in the adsorption of flat molecules onto the hydrophobic graphitic surface whose structure is composed of carbon atoms [301]. This also allows the exfoliation [161, 271, 284, 411] and separation of graphitic flakes by number of layers [148]. In contrast, linear chain surfactants, such as SDBS, have a flexible cylindrical body and inefficiently form micelles around SWNTs [295]. We demonstrated that the poor performance of linear chain surfactants in diameter separation, with respect to bile salts, is related, other than to inefficient de-bundling, to their surface coverage of SWNTs [41].

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Linear chain surfactants form micelles around SWNTs with a random number of molecules, similar to their behavior with hydrophobic particles in aqueous solutions [295]. Since DGU is sensitive to the buoyant density of the SWNT-surfactant assembly, a uniform surface coverage of the sidewalls is critical. This is why linear chain surfactants are less effective. Isopycnic separation allows m/s separation [12] with minimal modification of the protocol used for diameter separation [13]. This is achieved in a co-surfactant mixture, based on the principle that surfactants with different chemical structure adsorb in a different way on m/s-SWNTs sidewalls, due to their different polarizability [289], resulting in different buoyant densities. Mixtures of linear chain surfactants and bile salts are ideal due to their competitive absorption on SWNT sidewalls depending on the m/s nature of the tubes [272]. This creates subtle differences in the density of the micelle encapsulated SWNTs, enough to separate m- and s-SWNTs [12, 167]. Combining m/s and diameter separation, it is possible to enrich a single chirality [41]. For example, a (7,4) tube, with diameter 0.75 nm and chiral angle θ = 21◦ is geometrically close to a (6,5) (d = 0.75 nm and θ = 27◦ ). However, (7,4) is metallic and (6,5) is semiconducting. Hence, they can be separated due to their different electronic properties [12]. In order to reduce the (n,m) combinations and obtain the highest percentage of a single chirality, a two step procedure can be used: m/s separation exploiting a co-surfactant mixture (TDC-SDS) followed by diameter separation (SC). This allows, e.g., to selectively enrich (6,5) with respect to (7,4) and (6,6). Figures 9.6a, b demonstrate the enhancement of (6,5) [41]. Note that for an absolute population measurement, the PL cross section of individual species of SWNTs must be taken into account [323, 330, 353].

Fig. 9.6 Photoluminescence excitation map of (a) initial CoMoCAT dispersion showing the exciton-exciton resonances from different SWNTs; (b) After isopycnic separation. The enrichment of (6,5) is shown by the strong (eh22 , eh11 ) resonance at ca. (982, 569) nm

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9.6 Inkjet Printing of Nanotube and Graphene Dispersions Deposition of fluidic droplets to form patterns directly on substrates using inkjet printing offers a mask-less, inexpensive and scalable low-temperature process for large area fabrication [34, 132, 204, 336, 388, 389, 408]. The core technology is very similar to that of consumer-level inkjet printers. Solution processable conjugated polymers are ideal to fully exploit such an inexpensive and flexible printing technique to realize all-polymer devices on a variety of substrates [34, 204, 389, 408]. In fact, a variety of devices for different applications, ranging from allplastic electronics [204, 389, 408] to organic light emitting displays [386] has so far been demonstrated using this technology. The resolution of inkjet printing can be enhanced by pre-patterning the substrates, so that the functionalized patterns can act as barriers for the deposited droplets [203, 458]. Device channel lengths as small as 500 nm can be obtained [458]. Even higher resolution of 100–400 nm was recently demonstrated by a self-aligned inkjet printing method [318]. Using inkjet printing in conjunction with micro-embossing, self-aligned, vertical channel all-polymer thin film transistors were also reported [408]. Several inkjet printed devices on various un-patterned and pre-patterned substrates have thus far been demonstrated, using conjugated polymers, nanomaterials (e.g. pigments [231], microemulsions [196], magnetic nanoparticle-based inks [65], diamond [128] or metallic nanoparticles [315, 494]), CNTs [28, 174, 392], and graphene dispersed in carrier solvents. To minimize sedimentation, the particle sizes must have dimensions < 1 μm [56]. This limits the maximum nanoparticle volume fraction due to increased viscosity [56]. Direct inkjet printing of soluble organic precursors for making metal contacts in organic field effect transistors was recently reported [131, 471]. However, inkjet printing of silver-copper nanoparticle-based solutions yielded lower contact resistance compared to the organic precursor-based approach [131]. The advantages of inkjet printing of nanoparticles suspended in carrier solvents include greater ease of selective deposition and high concentration of materials for partially soluble compounds [56]. Printing nanotubes, graphene and nanotube-polymer composites directly on a range of substrates is thus an attractive technological proposition, due to its flexibility and selective deposition on a small target area [28, 40, 174, 233, 388, 392, 419]. This is even more attractive as it could result in improved mobility, environmental stability and lifetime compared to organic electronic devices [14, 28, 38]. Figure 9.7a, b show a printing head and a high speed close-up of a fluidic droplet being expelled from the 50 μm nozzle. Figure 9.7c is an optical micrograph of an array of inkjet printed SWNT-TFT devices [28] without any boundary patterns to restrict the spreading of the deposited droplets. Nevertheless, this demonstrates the effectiveness of selective deposition. As for nanoparticle-based solutions, it is vital to obtain an effective dispersion of SWNTs for inkjet printing. This is because aggregation of SWNTs, frequently encountered in organic solvents, easily clogs the print nozzles. Dispersions of pristine SWNTs in pure NMP are not stable. The aggregation is triggered by the tendency of NMP to absorb moisture. That is why using even a week-old SWNT dispersion for inkjet printing results in lumps

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Fig. 9.7 (a) Inkjet printing head (b) High speed photographic close-up of the nozzle showing a droplet being expelled (c) Optical micrograph TFT-SWNT devices printed using inkjet [28]

on the substrate [28]. Printing percolated networks of SWNTs as transparent conductors replacements is also being investigated [98] (see Section 9.10.1). Though mostly unfunctionalized SWNTs have been used in literature, using different sidewall functionalizations, it was shown that the general characteristics of SWNT based inkjet printed transistors may be modified [142]. SWNTs stabilized by a water-soluble conducting polymer, namely poly(2-methoxyaniline-5-sulfonic acid) (PMAS), were also ink-jet printed on plastic substrates to yield transparent, conducting films [392]. Also, exclusively inkjet-printed SWNT thin film transistors with low-voltage operation were recently demonstrated using high-capacitance ionicliquid dielectrics [326]. We also prepared a graphene-ink suitable for inkjet printing, achieving graphene TFTs with up to 95 cm2 V−1 s−1 mobility and 80% optical transmittance, paving the way to high mobility all-inkjet printed graphene-based optoelectronics.

9.7 Optical Characterizations of Nanotube and Graphene in Dispersions Significant efforts have been devoted to understanding the electronic and optical properties of nanotubes [17, 201, 293, 319, 335, 456]. Their quasi-one dimensionality gives rise to sharp spikes (van Hove singularities) in their electronic density

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of states. The nature of the electronic transitions responsible for the optical properties in SWNTs has been the subject of intense debate. Many authors have discussed their experimental observations in terms of band-band transitions [201] involving free electron-hole pairs, Fig. 9.8a. The ensemble of transition energies Eii between i-th van Hove peaks on opposite sides of the Fermi level vs tube diameter form the so-called Kataura plot [201]. This is widely used to understand absorption spectroscopy and resonant Raman spectroscopy of SWNTs. However, the electronhole interaction in nanotubes is very strong [335]. The exciton binding energies of SWNTs are very large, ranging from tens of meV to 1 eV, depending on diameter, chirality, and dielectric screening [293, 335, 456]. Therefore, an incoming photon creates an exciton formed by bound electron(e)-hole(h) pairs in the i-th sub-band, Fig. 9.8b. SWNT dispersions are usually characterized by UV-Vis absorption and photoluminescence excitation (PLE) spectroscopy, in order to assess the concentration and presence of individual tubes or bundles [16, 17, 175, 187, 226, 255, 293, 303, 304, 319, 321, 342, 355, 421, 456, 463]. As an example, Fig. 9.9 plots absorption spectra of SWNTs in different solvent-surfactant systems. The peaks in these spectra represent excitonic transitions, while their sharpness is an indication of the presence of isolated SWNTs [151, 308, 319]. For example, the features from 400 to 550 nm, 550 to 900 nm and 1,100 to 1,430 nm in the spectra represent eh11 of m-SWNTs, eh22 of s-SWNTs and eh11 of s-SWNTs, respectively [116, 187, 293, 319, 421, 456]. Bundling results in broadening of the absorption peaks [116, 321, 352, 421, 422, 457] and reduction of the transition energies. This causes a red-shift in the absorption spectra [116, 257, 321, 352, 422, 457]. However, changes in excitonic transition energies can also be caused by increase in the dielectric constant (ε) of the surrounding environment, the so-called “dielectric screening effect” [60, 116, 124, 335, 452, 457]. Due to this, the absorption spectra of SWNTs dispersed in aqueous solvents exhibit small shifts in transition energies depending on the dispersants used [299,

Fig. 9.8 Schemes of the optical excitation and emission of s-SWNTs based on the (a) band-toband model and (b) exciton picture. GS represents ground state

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Fig. 9.9 Absorption spectra of SWNTs in different solvent-surfactant systems, (a) Pure NMP [158]; (b) Water/SDBS [308]; (c) Water/SDS [308]; (d) Water/CTAB [308]; (e) Water/Brij [308]; (f) Water/Na-CMC [299]; (g) Water/DNA [495]; (h) Water/Nano-1 [498]. These spectra illustrate the shift in absorption peaks due to the different dielectric environments surrounding the SWNTs

308, 495, 498]. In the case of organic solvents, a larger red-shift of 30–50 meV is usually observed, and attributed to large increase in dielectric screening [138, 158, 279, 384].

9.7.1 Estimation of Nanotube Loading When preparing SWNT-polymer composites for optical applications, estimation of the SWNT aggregation in the dispersions (i.e. bundle size) is usually carried out by comparing SWNT dispersions prepared using the same dispersant/solvent combination, to eliminate the effects caused by different dielectric environments [60, 79, 124, 227, 305, 335, 352, 452, 457]. However, more specific information on SWNT bundling can be obtained using PLE spectroscopy, as discussed in Section 9.7.2. The SWNT concentration in a dispersion can be determined by the Beer-Lambert law Aλ = α λ lc, where Aλ is the absorbance of the material at the wavelength λ, α λ is the corresponding absorption coefficient, l is optical path length and c is the concentration of the material. In case of very high SWNT concentration, the dispersion

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Fig. 9.10 Absorption coefficients of HiPco SWNTs in NMP at four wavelengths. Adapted from Ref. [158]

needs to be diluted to avoid scattering losses [39, 158, 159, 299]. In order to get a reliable result, it is necessary to determine α λ at several wavelengths from a set of solutions with known SWNT concentration [138, 158, 245]. These wavelengths are chosen to match well-defined peaks in the absorption spectra of SWNTs in dispersions, e.g. eh11 of m-SWNTs (at 506 nm), eh22 of s-SWNTs (at 660 and 871 nm), and eh11 of s-SWNTs (at 1,308 nm) for SWNTs dispersed in NMP. Figure 9.10 shows an example used to estimate α λ of HiPco SWNTs dispersed in pure NMP at four different wavelengths [158]. The values of α λ thus obtained can then be used to assess the SWNT concentrations in unknown samples [138, 158, 245].

9.7.2 Detection of Nanotube Bundles Bundling can decrease the gap in s-SWNTs even if the surrounding dielectric environment remains unchanged [321, 421, 422, 457]. Indeed, red-shift and broadening of excitonic transitions as a consequence of bundling was observed by resonant Raman profiles of radial breathing modes [321], Rayleigh scattering [457], absorption and PL spectroscopy [421, 422]. This is attributed to the modification of Coulomb interactions by dielectric screening induced by the adjacent nanotubes [452, 457]. In comparison to Raman scattering and Rayleigh scattering, absorption and PL spectroscopy are faster techniques to probe the red-shift of excitonic transitions in SWNT ensembles [321, 421, 422, 457]. However, because the optical transitions of SWNTs are strongly modulated by the dielectric environment [60, 79, 124, 227, 305, 335, 352, 452, 457], the comparison between different SWNT dispersions only works between dispersions prepared with the same combination of dispersant and solvent. It is not known how sensitively absorption or PLE spectroscopy can probe the bundle size in dispersions and composite films, because the optical transitions of SWNTs are usually very broad due to bundling inhomogeneity, packing efficiency and wide distribution of bundle sizes in the ensemble samples

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[421, 422]. Therefore, it is necessary to explore a direct, simple and independent way to identify the presence of bundles in SWNT dispersions and films. We observed exciton energy transfer (EET) between nanotubes in bundles [371, 421, 422]. EET is very common and widely studied in biological systems, conjugated polymers, quantum wires, dots, and other low-dimensional systems [1, 27, 36, 127, 194]. A thorough investigation of PL and PLE spectra of SWNT dispersions shows that the apparently complex absorption and emission features can be explained by EET between adjacent s-SWNTs within a bundle [421]. Detection of EET does not require any reference sample; hence, is an independent method to monitor bundles. For example, Ref. [421] showed that 2 months after preparation, CoMoCAT dispersions in water with 1 wt% SDBS form small bundles. This was hinted by a red-shift in eh11 emission wavelengths [321, 422, 457]. However, a number of new resonance spots were also detected, not corresponding to any exciton-exciton resonances of SWNTs in the emission range from 1,150 to 1,350 nm [16, 17]. We attributed these spots to EET from large-gap s-SWNTs (donors) to small-gap s-SWNTs (acceptors). Because of the large exciton binding energies [293, 335, 456], energy transfer between s-SWNTs occurs via excitons [421], not via inter-tube electron or hole migration as suggested by Ref. [433]. Note that these optical features are distinct from the deep excitonic states (DE) reported in Ref. [248]. The intensity of the DE features is very weak and their positions are dependent on the associated excitonic transition energies, while the EET features can be very strong and are exclusively dependent on the excitonic transition energies of the donor and acceptor s-SWNTs [421]. Figure 9.11 schematically describes EET from a donor nanotube to an acceptor. The emission-absorption overlap between donor and acceptor SWNTs depends on the specific donor-acceptor couple. We proposed Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) [127] as the EET mechanism [421] because of the high degree of orientation and small wall to wall distance between tubes in bundles, the latter also favoring multipolar contributions [127, 194]. The EET features, marked in circles and ellipses in the PLE map shown in Fig. 9.12, are summarized in Table 9.1. These can thus be used to detect the presence of bundles in SWNT dispersions.

Fig. 9.11 Schematic illustration of EET from a large gap s-SWNT to a smaller gap s-SWNT [421]

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Fig. 9.12 PLE map for (a) as-prepared dispersions and (b, c) after 2 months of incubation, where the PLE maps in (a) and (b) are within the eh11 emission and the eh22 excitation of (6,5) and (8,4) tubes. Solid lines at upper left corners represent resonances with same excitation and recombination energies. The dashed-dotted lines are associated with the D sideband of eh11 excitons. Open squares represent eh11 emission of SWNTs for which excitation matches their eh11 , eh22 , eh33 and eh44 transitions. Each (eh22 , eh11 ) resonance is labeled with the chiral index of the corresponding SWNT. Open up-triangles are phonon sidebands of eh11 and eh22 excitons. Open circles mark emission from (8, 4), (7, 6) and (9,4) SWNTs, with excitation matching eh11 , eh22 and eh33 of (6,5). Broad spectral features marked by ellipses are assigned to EET between s-SWNTs [421]

9.7.3 Optical Characterizations of Graphene in Dispersions The linear dispersion of Dirac electrons in graphene [40, 160, 311, 411] results in flat absorption spectra from the visible to the near IR region. A UV peak is also observed which is a signature of the van Hove singularity in the graphene density of states [234]. As for SWNTs, the loading of graphene in aqueous or non-aqueous

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Table 9.1 Assignment of exciton-exciton bands and corresponding EET features in the PLE map of as-prepared CoMoCAT SWNT dispersions in D2 O/SDBS. λex and λem are excitation and emission wavelengths in nm, Eex and Eem the excitation and emission energy in eV. (n, m) is the A chirality. ehD ii (i = 1,2,3,4) and eh11 are excitonic transitions of donors (D) and excitonic emission of acceptors (A), respectively. Here, ehii (i=1,2,3,4) correspond to the excitonic states associated with the i-th electronic inter band transition Eii (i=1,2,3,4) in the single-particle picture EET features (λex ,λem ) (980,1025)

(Eex , Eem ) (1.265,1.210)

Donor

Assign.

Acceptor

(6,5)

A (ehD 11 , eh11 )

(7,5)

A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) D (eh11 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) D (eh11 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) D (eh11 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) D (eh11 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) D (eh11 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 11 , eh11 ) D (eh22 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) D (eh22 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) D (eh22 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) D (eh22 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) D (eh22 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 22 , eh11 ) D (eh22 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 )

(8,4),(9,4),(7,6)

(980,∼1116)

(1.265,1.111)

(6,5)

(980,1139)

(1.265,1.088)

(6,5)

(980,1180)

(1.265,1.051)

(6,5)

(980,∼1260)

(1.265,0.984)

(6,5)

(980,∼1330)

(1.265,0.932)

(6,5)

(914,∼1116)

(1.357,1.111)

(9,1)

(879,∼1116)

(1.411,1.111)

(6,4)

(828,980)

(1.498,1.265)

(5,4)

(828,1025)

(1.498,1.210)

(5,4)

(828,∼1116)

(1.498,1.111)

(5,4)

(828,1139)

(1.498,1.088)

(5,4)

(828,1180)

(1.498,1.051)

(5,4)

(828,∼1260)

(1.498,0.984)

(5,4)

(828,∼1330)

(1.498,0.932)

(5,4)

(645,1060)

(1.922,1.170)

(7,5)

(646,1139)

(1.919,1.089)

(7,5)(7,6)

(646,1180)

(1.919,1.051)

(7,5)(7,6)

(646,∼1260)

(1.919,0.984)

(7,5)(7,6)

(646,∼1330)

(1.919,0.932)

(7,5)(7,6)

(589,1139)

(2.105,1.089)

(8,4)

(589,1180)

(2.105,1.051)

(8,4)

(589,∼1260)

(2.105,0.984)

(8,4)

(566,1025)

(2.191,1.209)

(6,5)

(566,∼1116)

(2.191,1.111)

(6,5)

(566,1139)

(2.191,1.089)

(6,5)

(566,1180)

(2.191,1.051)

(6,5)

(566,∼1260)

(2.191,0.984)

(6,5)

(566,∼1330)

(2.191,0.932)

(6,5)

(371,1139)

(3.342,1.089)

(7,6)

(9,2) (8,6) (9,5),(10,5),(8,7) (13,2),(9,7),(12,4) (8,4),(9,4),(7,6) (8,4),(9,4),(7,6) (6,5) (7,5) (8,4),(9,4),(7,6) (9,2) (8,6) (9,5),(10,5),(8,7) (13,2),(9,7),(12,4) (10,2) (9,2) (8,6) (9,5)(10,5)(8,7) (13,2),(9,7),(12,4) (9,2) (8,6) (9,5)(10,5)(8,7) (7,5) (8,4)(9,4)(7,6) (9,2) (8,6) (9,5)(10,5)(8,7) (13,2),(9,7),(12,4) (9,2)

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Table 9.1 (continued) EET features (λex ,λem )

(Eex , Eem )

Donor

Assign.

Acceptor

(371,1180)

(3.342,1.051)

(7,6)

A (ehD 33 , eh11 )

(8,6)

(371,∼1260)

(3.342,0.984)

(7,6)

A (ehD 33 , eh11 )

(9,5)(10,5)(8,7)

(321,1139)

(3.863,1.089)

(7,6)

A (ehD 44 , eh11 )

(9,2)

A (ehD 44 , eh11 ) D (eh33 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) D (eh33 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) D (eh33 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) D (eh33 , ehA11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) A (ehD 33 , eh11 ) D (eh33 , ehA11 )

(321,1180)

(3.863,1.051)

(7,6)

(346,1060)

(3.584,1.170)

(6,5)

(346,∼1116)

(3.584,1.111)

(6,5)

(346,1139)

(3.584,1.089)

(6,5)

(346,1180)

(3.584,1.051)

(6,5)

(346,∼1260)

(3.584,0.984)

(6,5)

(346,∼1330)

(3.584,0.932)

(6,5)

(337,1060)

(3.679,1.170)

(7,5)

(337,∼1116)

(3.679,1.111)

(7,5)

(337,1139)

(3.679,1.089)

(7,5)

(337,1180)

(3.679,1.051)

(7,5)

(337,∼1260)

(3.679,0.984)

(7,5)

(337,∼1330)

(3.679,0.932)

(7,5)

(8,6) (10,2) (8,4)(9,4)(7,6) (9,2) (8,6) (9,5)(10,5)(8,7) (13,2),(9,7),(12,4) (10,2) (8,4)(9,4)(7,6) (9,2) (8,6) (9,5)(10,5)(8,7) (13,2),(9,7),(12,4)

dispersions can be estimated by UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy in conjunction with Beer-Lambert law, using experimentally determined absorption co-efficient of graphene at the desired wavelength [161, 166, 271].

9.8 Nanotube/Graphene Polymer Composites The following subsections review generalized procedures used to prepare SWNT or graphene polymer composites and the desirable characteristics of host matrices for some selected applications, such as saturable absorbers (SAs).

9.8.1 Incorporation of Nanotube/Graphene in Host Polymer Matrices SWNTs or graphene are dispersed in appropriate solvents, generally by ultrasonic treatment. The dispersions may initially contain aggregates or bundles, which can then be removed by centrifugation or filtration. There is a trade-off between the desired SWNT bundle sizes/unexfoliated graphene flakes and their concentration.

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In case of water, high loading of both SWNTs and graphene may be achieved using surfactants, making it easier to control the optical density in the resultant composites. Organic solvents, on the other hand, cannot generally disperse a high amount of SWNTs/graphene. If allowed by the final application, nanotubes can be oxidized [2, 476] or functionalized [260, 347] to improve dispersion and loading. This also holds true for graphene, where functionalization dramatically improves the amount of material that can be dispersed [332]. For SWNTs, when covalent functionalization is not an option, different polymers are employed as dispersants, which can also act as the host in the final composite [206, 362, 476]. Commonly used organic solvents are o-DCB [476], chloroform [240, 338, 476], NMP [158, 159, 362] and toluene [206]. For graphene, NMP and o-DCB are usually the common non-aqueous solvents. After removal of aggregates or un-exfoliated material, the dispersions are mixed with the host polymer. The same protocol is followed in organic solvents if a different polymer is used as the dispersant. The mixtures are then drop-cast or spin coated, depending on the final application. Free standing or substrate-bound composites with homogeneous, submicrometer distribution of SWNTs/graphene are then obtained by evaporating the solvent [241, 357, 359, 360, 363, 370, 371]. For SWNTs, composites with individually dispersed nanotubes may also be fabricated using cellulose derivatives [299, 428]. In this instance, the dispersions are drop-cast [299, 428]. Cellulose-based composites eliminate the need for surfactants, as they are used both as the dispersant and host matrix [299, 428]. Individually dispersed SWNTs can also be prepared in gelatine films [224]. SWNT-SDS dispersions, mixed with a gelatine aqueous solution, are sonicated at 40◦ C and cast on a substrate to dry at room temperature to obtain such composites. Gelatine undergoes gelation at 37◦ C while cooling down, thus preventing re-aggregation [224]. 9.8.1.1 Alignment of Nanotubes in Composites Alignment of SWNTs is important, due to the high anisotropic interaction of SWNTs with light [6, 266, 387]. In aligned SWNTs, absorption is maximum when polarization is parallel to the alignment direction [177, 179, 182, 263, 309, 357]. Various methods, in particular mechanical stretching and Langmuir-Blodgett (LB), have been used to achieve alignment of SWNTs. High degree of alignment within the polymer matrix can be achieved by laterally stretching the composite [179, 224, 299, 357]. A SWNT-polytstyrene-toluene dispersion cast on a teflon sheet was reported to be stretchable 10 times, yielding 56% of SWNTs aligned within ∼15◦ of the stretching axis [179]. PVA can be stretched up to 6 times by heating at 60◦ C in a humid environment [357], whereas gelatine films may be stretched up to three times under swelling in a water-ethanol mixture, and dried under constant elongation [224]. Hydroxyethylcellulose composites can be stretched up to three times at 100◦ C by adding glycerine as plasticizer [299]. Figure 9.16 shows the change of absorption of a mechanically stretched SWNT-PVA composite for incident light with varying polarization [179, 357]. LB may also be used to fabricate self-aligned SWNTs [150, 225, 385]. A graphical illustration of the LB technique used with a SWNT aqueous dispersion is shown

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Fig. 9.13 (a) Schematic illustration of the SWNT self-assembly process. A hydrophilic glass slide is vertically immersed in a stable dispersion of short SWNTs. With gradual evaporation of the water, the SWNT bundles self-assemble on the glass substrate around the air/dispersion/substrate triple line. As the triple line progress downwards, a continuous SWNT film forms on the substrate. Figure adapted from [385]. (b) AFM images of an s-SWNT single layer on mica prepared by vertical dipping (left) and a drop-and-dry film prepared from the same dispersion (right). The arrow indicates the dipping direction. Adapted from Ref. [225]

in Fig. 9.13a [385]. A comparison between the AFM images of randomly oriented and aligned SWNTs can be seen in Fig. 9.13b [225]. The nanotube self-alignment process occurs at the air-substrate-solution triple line as the solvent gradually evaporates [385]. Also, in-plane compression can be used to further align the tubes

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[225]. Composites with poly(N-dodecylacrylamide) (PDDA) polymer have been reported using the LB method, but no specific information on the degree of alignment was available [150]. As discussed in Section 9.3.3, LCs can also be used to align SWNTs. LB may also be used to fabricate graphite oxide [71] or graphene [264, 425] composites with in-plane flake orientation or stacking.

9.8.2 Desirable Characteristics of Host Polymers Important requirements for high efficiency photovoltaic cells include effective holetransport, suitable bandgap and high stability against humidity [205]. Nanotube and graphene composites with conjugated polymers are generally used for electroluminescent and photovoltaic devices [2, 205, 206, 240, 260, 333, 347, 476]. For the case of SWNTs, the use of conjugated polymers has the added advantage of improved dispersion during the solution processing step. However, these are sensitive to moisture and light [405, 406]. Thus, desirable characteristics of polymers for telecommunication applications also include stability of the optical properties against humidity [277]. The host polymer must not have high absorption losses at the device operation wavelength. These usually arise from vibration overtones, see Table 9.2. The bonds giving higher overtone absorption intensities are C–H and O–H, while C–F overtones give the least absorption [277]. As shown in Table 9.3, fluorinated polymers are the most transparent polymers commercially available for telecommunication applications [277]. Polymers commonly used for optical applications are, e.g., polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), polystyrene (PS), polycarbonate (PC) and epoxy resins [277]. Over the years, several new polymers have been developed, which comply with the requirement of low optical loss and environmental stability, such as deuterated or halogenated polyacrylates and fluorinated polyimides [277]. These have low losses Table 9.2 Wavelengths and intensities of some important vibration overtones (Adapted from [66])

C–H C–H C–H C–D C–D C–F C–F C–F C=O C=O C=O O–H

Overtone order

Wavelength [nm]

Intensity (relative)

1 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 3 4 5 2

3,390 1,729 1,176 1,541 1,174 1,626 1,361 1,171 1,836 1,382 1,113 1,438

1 7.2 × 10−2 6.8 × 10−3 1.6 × 10−3 1.3 × 10−4 6.4 × 10−6 1.9 × 10−7 6.4 × 10−9 1.2 × 10−2 4.3 × 10−4 1.8 × 10−5 7.2 × 10−2

Asahi glass

Dow chemical

General electric Hitachi

Amoco

Perfluorocyclobutane (XU 35121) Benzocyclobutene (Cyclotene) Perfluorovinyl ether cyclopolymer (CYTOP)

0.25 (1,300) 0.25 (1,550) 0.8 (1,300) 1.5 (1,550)

RIE

0.24 (830) TE:0.5, TM:0.6 (1,300)

0.02 (830) 0.07 (1,310) 1.7 (1,550) 0.17 (1,310) 0.43 (1,550) TE:0.3, TM:0.7 (1,310) PDL: 0.4 dB/cm (1,310) 0.4 (1,300) 1.0 (1,550)

0.01 (840) 0.06 (1,300) 0.2 (1,550)

0.02 (840) 0.3 (1,300) 0.8 (1,550)

0.18 (800) 0.2 (1,300) 0.6 (1,550)

Photoexposure/wet etch

RIE, laser ablation Photoexposure/wet etch

Photoexposure/wet etch

RIE RIE

Deuterated polysiloxane Fluorinated polyimide

Fluorinated polyimide (Ultradel) Polyetherimide (Ultem) Fluorinated polyimide

RIE

Photoexposure/wet etch, RIE, laser ablation

Halogenated acrylate

Halogenated acrylate

Photoexposure/wet etch, RIE, laser ablation

Acrylate

NTT

Diffusion

Acrylate (Polyguide)

Optical crosslinks (formerly Dupont and Polymer photonics) Corning (formerly AlliedSignal)

Patterning techniques

Polymer type

Company

Propagation loss, single-mode waveguide [db/cm] (wavelength, [nm])

Tg: > 350◦ C n = 1.34 Tg = 108◦ C

Birefringence: 0.025, crosslinked, thermally stable Thermally stable Birefringence: 0.009 (1,300), PDL: 0.1 dB/cm (1,300), Tg: 310◦ C, thermally stable Tg: 400◦ C

Birefringence: 0.0002 (1,550) crosslinked, Tg: 25◦ C Environmentally stable Birefringence: 0.000001 (1,550) Crosslinked, Tg: −50◦ C Environmentally stable Birefringence: 0.000006 (1,310) Tg: 110◦ C Environmentally stable Environmentally stable

Laminated sheets excimer-laser machinable

Other properties (wavelength, [nm])

Table 9.3 Characteristics of commercially available polymers for optical applications (from [277])

9 Nanotube and Graphene Polymer Composites for Photonics and Optoelectronics 305

(Gemfire)

Fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfide) (FPAESI)

Inorganic polymer glass (IPG) PMMA copolymer (P2ANS) Polycarbonate with CLD-1 chromophore (PC-CLD-1)

Polyurethane with FTC chromophore (PU-FTC)

Poly (methylmethacrylate) with CLD-1 chromophore (PMMA-CLD-1)

Gemfire

K-JIST

Redfern Hoechst celanese PacificWave

Lumera

Ipitek

(OASIC)

Tetrafluoroethylene and perfluorovinyl ether copolymer (Teflon AF) Polycarbonate (BEAMBOX)

Dupont

JDS uniphase (formerly Akzo Nobel) telephotonics

Polymer type

Company

RIE

RIE

RIE Photobleaching RIE

RIE

Photoexposure/wet etch, RIE, laser ablation Photoexposure, wet etch

RIE

Patterning techniques

Table 9.3 (continued)

5.0 (1,330)

2.0 (1,330)

1.0 (1,330) 1.8 (1,550)

TE:0.42, TM:0.4 (1,550)

105 S/m were demonstrated [92]. For a 80 nm SWNT-composite film, a transmittance (at 550 nm) of 75% and sheet resistance of 80 −1 was achieved. Further improvement might be possible using enriched long m-SWNTs, or chemically doped graphene [18, 40]. Indeed, chemical doping is a key strategy to improve performance both for SWNTs [136] and graphene [18, 37] TCs. In the latter case, Ref. [37] prepared graphene-based TC films, starting from graphene produced by micromechanical cleavage (MC), with T∼98%, Rs = 400 −1 , exploiting a layer of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to induce n-type doping. Ref. [18] achieved Rs ∼ 30 −1 , T ∼ 90% by nitric acid treatment of graphene-based TC films derived from CVD grown flakes, one order of magnitude lower in terms of Rs than previous graphene-based TC films from wet transfer of CVD films [223]. It is important to note that graphene-based TC films derived from CVD grown flakes, combined with doping, have the potential to outperform ITO and other transparent conductive materials. On the other hand, graphene-based TC films produced by other methods, such as LPE, albeit presently with higher Rs at T=90%, have already been tested in organic light emitters [290, 470] and solar cells [269, 459]. These are a cheaper and easier scalable alternative to MC or CVD films, and need be considered in applications where cost reduction is the key factor.

9.10.2 Electroluminescent and Photovoltaic Devices Photo-induced electron transfer between semiconducting conjugated polymers and SWNTs has attracted significant attention in recent years. Electroluminescence is a phenomenon in which a material emits light in response to an applied electric field. Studies of the electroluminescent properties of SWNT-polymer composites have also been carried out [206, 476]. Poly(3-hexyl-thiophene) (P3HT), with a bandgap of 1.8–2.1 eV has been the most widely used polymer for such applications, because of its high mobility and environmental stability [206, 333, 476]. Electroluminescence has been reported mainly from s-SWNT devices, with an emission peak in the NIR assigned to a radiative decay over the first interband transition of the π bands at the K point [300]. Electroluminescence was also observed from biased m-SWNTs [112, 282], MWNTs [112] and graphene [112]. Reference [112] assigned such light emission to phonon-assisted radiative decay from π ∗ states at the M point to the Fermi level at the K point. Graphene has a work function of 4.5 eV, similar to ITO. This, combined with its promise as flexible and cheap transparent conductor, makes it an ideal candidate as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) anode. Graphene-based transparent conductor film (GTCFs) anodes enable out-coupling efficiency comparable to ITO [470]. Chemically derived graphene was also implemented as transparent cathode in a metal-free and solution-processed light-emitting electrochemical cell [290]. A photovoltaic (PV) device converts light to electricity [68]. VOC is the maximum open circuit voltage, while ISC is the maximum short circuit current. The fill

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factor (FF) is defined as: FF = (Vmax × Imax )/(VOC × ISC ), where Imax and Vmax are maximum current and voltage. The energy conversion efficiency is η = Pmax /Pinc , where Pmax = VOC × ISC × FF and Pinc is the incident power. The fraction of absorbed photons converted to current defines the internal photocurrent efficiency (IPCE). SWNTs and graphene have been proposed as promising materials in organic [35, 460] and dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) [434]. Indeed, both SWNTs and graphene can fulfill multiple functions in photovoltaic devices: (1) transparent conductor window, (2) photoactive material, (3) channel for charge transport, (4) catalyst [40]. SWNTs and GTCFs are used as window electrodes both in organic and DSSC devices [40]. Organic solar cells based on SWNTs-polymer composites have also been demonstrated, due to the excellent electron transfer with poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) [2], poly(2-methoxy-5-(2-ethylhexyloxy)1,4-phenylenevinylene)(MEHPPV) [205], P3HT [260, 347], poly(3-ocylthiophene2,5-diyl) (P3OT) [205, 240] as the host. Photoinduced electron transfer in bulk heterojunctions of MEH-PPV/C60 and β-carotene/C60 was reported more than 20 years ago [366], with fullerenes used as acceptors. Combining both these ideas, using C60 as electron acceptor and the high mobility of SWNTs, C60 -SWNT-P3HT composites have been reported with up to ∼390 mV open circuit voltage and 2.7 mA/cm−2 short circuit current density [260]. Chemically modified graphene dispersions were also used in bulk heterojunction PV devices, as electron-acceptors with poly(3-hexylthiophene) and poly(3octylthiophene) as donors, achieving η ∼ 1.4% [269]. Reference [485] claims that η > 12% should be possible with graphene as photoactive material. SWNTs and graphene can cover an even larger number of functions in DSSCs. Indeed, other than as TC windows at the photoanode [459], SWNTs and graphene can be incorporated into the nanostructured TiO2 photoanode, through which the photoelectrons generated from dye molecules are transported to the anodes [146]. A recombination reaction (i.e. reverse charge transfer from TiO2 to the dye or redox couple) reduces the overall cell efficiency [314, 410, 483]. One way to promote charge transfer, reducing recombination, is to incorporate a conductive network into TiO2 . In this context, SWNTs and graphene show potential not only because of their extremely high carrier mobility, but also because of their unique one and two dimensional structures. Reference [52] used a SWNT network as scaffolds of dye-sensitized TiO2 nanoparticles to promote charge transport in mesoscopic semiconductor films. The authors demonstrated that, although the SWNT network in the film has no noticeable influence on the charge injection process from the excited Ru(II) trisbipyridyl complex into TiO2 particles, it plays an important role in improving the charge separation, as the rate of back electron transfer between the oxidized sensitizer (Ru(III)) and the injected electrons becomes slower in the presence of the SWNTs scaffold [52]. Reference [483] used graphene as TiO2 bridge, achieving faster electron transport and lower recombination, leading to η ∼ 6.97%, higher than conventional nanocrystalline TiO2 photoanodes [481, 483].

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Another option in DSSCs is to use SWNTs and graphene at the counter electrode (CE). Regeneration of dye molecules is accomplished by capturing electrons from a liquid electrolyte (Iodide/Iodine solution), sandwiched on the CE, which catalyzes the reduction of tri-iodide [328]. Another important function of the counter electrode is the back-transfer of the electrons arriving from the external circuit to the redox system [328]. The most important requirements for the counter electrode material are a high exchange current density and a low charge-transfer resistance [9]. Currently, DSSC cathodes are made of Platinum (Pt) layers deposited on transparent glass, in turn, coated by a TC such as ITO [145]. ITO suffers many limitation listed above, while Pt is rare and expensive. Furthermore Pt tends to degrade over time when in contact with an iodide/iodine liquid electrolyte, reducing the overall efficiency of DSSCs [232]. Strong efforts have been directed towards the replacement of such elements with low-cost and more versatile materials. The use of SWNTs and graphene at the CE of DSSCs is attractive for several reasons, such as high specific surface area, good catalytic properties, electronic conductivity, corrosion resistance towards iodine, high reactivity, abundance, and low cost. Thus, SWNTs and graphene films and/or composites are good candidates as CE material in DSSCs [173, 417, 434]. Reference [434] demonstrated that ozone-treated SWNTs films increase their catalytic activity due to the introduction of defects. Graphene has also great potential. Semi-transparent graphene thin films on FTO were reported with high electrocatalytic activity toward Iodide/Iodine redox couple [202]. An hybrid poly(3,4ethylenedioxythiophene (PEDOT):poly-(styrenesulfonate) (PSS)/GO composite was used as counter electrode, getting η = 4.5%, comparable to 6.3%, for a Pt counter electrode tested under the same conditions [173], but achieved with a cheaper material.

9.10.3 Saturable Absorbers (SAs) 9.10.3.1 Nanotube Based SAs A material’s response to an electric field can be described in terms of polarization, defined as the dipole moment per unit volume. The relationship between polarization and electric field is [45]: P = ε0 χ E

(9.9)

where χ is the dielectric susceptibility [45]. For very high electric fields Eq. (9.9) is no longer sufficient to describe the behavior of some materials. In this case polarization can be expressed as a power series in the electric field [45] P = ε0 (χ1 E + χ2 E2 + χ3 E3 + ...)

(9.10)

where χ 1 is the linear susceptibility and χ 2 and χ 3 are the second- and thirdorder nonlinear susceptibilities. These are responsible for phenomena such as

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difference frequency generations, optical parametric oscillation, self-focusing, saturable absorption, two-photon absorption etc. [45]. Strong nonlinear optical effects have been demonstrated in SWNTs [76, 286, 357, 359, 363, 427]. The very high density of states at the van Hove singularities allows strong optical absorption if the frequency of the incident electromagnetic field matches their energy spacing. As strong absorption occurs, the excited energy levels fill up and the material becomes transparent to higher power irradiation. This saturable absorption, to a first approximation, can be described as [45]: α(I) =

α0 + αns , 1 + I(t)/Isat

(9.11)

where α 0 is the linear optical absorption; I(t) is the laser intensity; Isat is the saturation intensity, defined by Eq. (9.11) as the intensity necessary to reduce the absorption coefficient to half of the initial value; α ns is the nonsaturable absorption component [45]. The dynamic response of nonlinear absorption is specified by the recovery time (τ A ), defined as the time necessary to reduce the carriers by a factor of 1/e, and shows how fast is the relaxation to the ground state, after excitation [211]. The modulation depth is defined as the maximum possible absorption change between low power and high power irradiation [211]. Reference [76] firstly measured saturable absorption in SWNTs at 1.55 μm by pump-probe spectroscopy, showing a sub-picosecond relaxation of excited carriers. They reported χ 3 ∼ 10−10 esu (1 esu = 1.11 × 10−9 m2 /V2 [45]), due to the non-resonant condition. A much higher χ 3 value of 10−7 esu, was achieved under resonant condition in Ref. [427], with a recovery time of about 600 fs. Saturable absorption can be further enhanced if SWNT are highly oriented along the light polarization direction, because of the anisotropy of their interaction with light [357]. SWNTs have a number of benefits compared to other SA materials, such as organic dyes, color filter glasses [367], dye-doped solids [139] and semiconductors [213, 215]. Since the SWNT absorption depends on the diameter, this can be fine tuned across the visible and infrared spectral range. This could allow a number of ultrafast optoelectronic applications in medicine, sensing, telecommunication and materials processing. SWNT based SAs have a high laser damage threshold, excellent environmental stability and are much easier and cheaper to assemble [357, 371]. As an example, for telecommunications at 1.55 μm, the SWNTs should have a maximum absorption around this wavelength. In laser ablation grown SWNT, diameter control can be achieved by varying the temperature in the laser oven, as shown in Fig. 9.23. Figure 9.24 plots the Raman spectra from SWNTs with absorption peak centered at 1.55 μm. From the radial breathing modes, a diameter distribution of 1–1.3 nm can be deduced [116, 429]. Therefore, the SWNTs grown at 1,000◦ C in Fig. 9.23 are more suitable for 1.55 μm operation than the other SWNTs presented in Fig. 9.25.

9


Fig. 9.23 Tuning LA-SWNT diameter by growth parameters; the absorbance reflects the change in SWNT diameter with the growth temperature

Fig. 9.24 Raman spectra of LA-SWNTs grown at 1,000◦ C (See Fig. 9.23)

Fig. 9.25 Absorption spectra of SWNTs produced by different growth methods. The nanotubes are dispersed in D2 O with SDBS

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In addition to strong optical absorption at the wavelength of interest, an ideal SWNT-polymer SAs should have a large modulation depth, small non-saturable loss [357] and ultra-fast recovery time [451]. The modulation depth is generally tuned by changing the concentration of dispersed SWNTs in the polymer matrix. It can also be increased by aligning tubes in the polymer matrix [357], as discussed in Section 9.8.1.1. The non-saturable losses can be minimized by preparing composites free from defects (e.g. cracks, voids etc.) or SWNT aggregates, using host polymers that are transparent at the device operation wavelength. However, bundles could be beneficial in SWNT-based SAs, since they allow to achieve a shorter recovery time. However bundle-sizes must be smaller than the device operation wavelength to avoid non-saturable losses due to scattering [39, 357]. It is thus important to properly characterize both SWNT solutions and composites, as discussed in Sections 9.7 and 9.9. In earlier implementations of SWNTs as SAs, SWNTs were spray-coated on quartz substrates [381] or used in dispersion [181]. Direct synthesis of highly purified SWNT thin films on fibre-ends was also proposed [477]. However, high losses were reported due to the residual presence of large aggregates as well as catalyst particles [379, 477], or due the formation of bubbles when SWNT dispersions were used [181, 379, 477]. In addition, the device fabrication methods were time consuming and had low throughput [479]. The best way to overcome such disadvantages is to disperse SWNTs in a polymer matrix [96, 181, 358, 360, 363, 370, 371, 380, 428, 477].

9.11 Nanotube Composites as Mode Lockers for Ultrafast Lasers The most successful application of SWNT-based SAs demonstrated thus far is as mode-lockers for ultrashort pulse lasers and noise suppression filters. The use of SAs as a mode-lockers to generate ultrashort pulses was first proposed shortly after the invention of laser itself [97, 393]. Various optical materials, such as organic dyes, color filter glasses [367], dye-doped solids [139] and semiconductors [213, 215] have so far been used for this purpose. However, it was challenging to achieve stable mode-locking operation with these conventional SAs [213, 215, 325]. The advances in molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) growth of semiconductor quantum wells (SQW) at the end of the 80s resulted in production of new semiconductor heterostructures with SA properties useful for photonics applications [215, 451]. Because of the SQW normally growth on high reflectivity mirrors (e.g. semiconductor Bragg mirrors), these structures are widely known as Semiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirrors(SESAMs) [215]. SESAMs typically are complex multi quantum well heterostructures, which are usually grown by expensive molecular beam epitaxy, and often undergo heavy-ion implantation to create defects, in order to reduce the recovery time [214, 277]. Moreover, they can only cover a narrow wavelength operation range [325]. On the other hand, SWNTs are cheap to produce, and different parameters can be well-controlled, such as modulation depth and operation

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wavelength range, as discussed above. SWNT composites are also mechanically robust and environmentally stable. SAs based on SWNTs have thus the potential to compete with traditional SESAMs [29, 96, 129, 160, 209, 210, 358, 360, 363, 370, 372, 413, 415, 416, 453–455, 479]. To date, SWNT-based SAs have been successfully used as mode-lockers in fibre lasers [160, 208–210, 220, 358, 360, 363, 370, 372, 380, 413, 415, 416, 453–455], waveguide lasers [29, 96], solid-state lasers [125, 376], and semiconductor lasers [396], at 0.8 [219], 1 [210], 1.1 [208], 1.3 [401], 1.55 [160, 413, 416, 453–455, 478], 1.6 [415, 478] and 2 μm [394]. Wavelength-tunable lasers using SWNTs, were demonstrated in Ref. [454] and later in Refs. [115, 219, 377, 378]. So far, the shortest reported pulse duration is 68 fs [376]. A repetition rate of 17.2 GHz was demonstrated [396]. The maximum output power reported to date is 1.6 W [416]. A large range of host polymers, e.g. polycarbonate (PC) [29, 372, 454], polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [208–210, 413, 415, 416, 453, 455], Carboxymethyl cellulose, Polyimide (PI), Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(9,9-dioctyfluoreny1-2,7-diyl) (PFO) have been used [160]. Different SWNT growth technologies, e.g. laser ablation (LA), CoMoCAT, HiPCO, arc discharge (AD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), catalytic CO disproportionation reaction [160], producing different mean diameter and diameter distribution, have been employed for mode-locking at different wavelengths. Since ∼1.55 μm is the most attractive wavelength for telecommunications, significant effort has been devoted to optimize SWNT-polymer SAs for mode-locking of Erbium-doped fiber lasers at this wavelength [160, 372, 413, 416, 453–455]. ∼123 fs pulses were reported with a repetition rate of ∼18 MHz [413]. Modelocking in an active waveguide laser was reported, with transform-limited 1.6 ps [96], and 320 fs pulses [29]. To realize various functions, different configurations of SAs using SWNTs were proposed, such as evanescent field interaction in a tapered fibre [395], in a D-shaped optical fibre [398, 399], and with vertically aligned SWNTs [397]. Incorporating SWNT polymer composites into the evanescent field of the fibre taper [220] and polymer fiber [442] was also proposed. Thus far, the most common way to integrate SWNTs-devices into fiber lasers is to sandwich a SWNT polymer composite film between two fiber connectors, offering ease of integration into various lightwave systems with the flexibility of polymer photonics [160, 360, 363, 370, 372, 378, 413, 416, 453–455]. Figure 9.26a is a photograph of a FC/PC fibre patchcord with a SWNT-PVA film incorporated into it. A typical mode-locked fibre laser setup is schematized in Fig. 9.26b. The laser cavity is constructed using a mode-locker, a coupler, a fibre polarization controller (PC), an isolator (ISO), an Erbium-doped fiber (EDF), and a wavelength division multiplexer (WDM) [160]. The optical isolator ensures unidirectional light propagation. To improve the output pulse stability, a polarization controller is used, consisting of 2 spools of single-mode fiber acting as retarders. The total retardation induced by the polarization controller is a function of the fiber geometry in the spool [3]. One port of the coupler is used for a feedback

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Fig. 9.26 (a) Fiber connector with SWNT-PVA film; (b) EDF laser with SWNT-mode-locker

into the cavity, while the other serves to study the cavity repetition rate, autocorrelation trace, pulse spectrum and output power [160]. The EDF is pumped by a diode laser at 960 nm to provide gain for lasing [160]. This results in the excitation of the Er3+ to its high-energy states, followed by a non-radiative recombination to lowerenergy excited states. The subsequent radiative recombination from these levels to ground state gives an emission around ∼1.5 μm [3]. The laser feedback is created using the optical fibre coupler to obtain gain [360]. The laser beam returns to the EDFA through a wavelength division multiplexer, which combines light at 1,529 and 960 nm in a single fibre. Thus, the stored pumping energy of the low-energy excited state is used to amplify the signal through stimulated emission. When the gain exceeds the loss induced by the intracavity components, the laser generation starts. The mechanism of pulse formation can be understood as follows [211]. The SA works as a loss modulator when a short pulse circulates in the cavity (Fig. 9.27a). The peak intensity saturates the absorber more than the low intensity pulse wings. This produces an amplitude loss modulation with a frequency proportional to the cavity round trip time. The pulse circulation in the cavity gives enough gain to overcome the losses induced by the absorber. As a result, the net gain window has duration equal to the absorber recovery time [211]. The initial pulse formation can start from noise fluctuations in the laser cavity, when a high intensity spike significantly decreases its losses passing through the SA. It should be noted that it is possible to achieve pulses significantly shorter than the SA recovery time, see Fig. 9.27b [199]. In this case, soliton pulses form in the cavity as a balance between negative group velocity dispersion and self-phase-modulation [199]. Thus, the SA

Fig. 9.27 Mode-locking mechanisms: (a) saturable absorber, (b) soliton mode-locking [360]

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acts as a loss mechanism for starting the pulse formation and later on stabilizes the pulses [199]. To achieve pulse generation from the continuous-wave (CW) regime, a pig-tailed SWNT-PVA mode-locker can be placed in the cavity (Fig. 9.26b) [160]. This gives stable mode-locking with a fundamental repetition rate fr . This can be estimated as fr = c/(nL), where c the velocity of light in vacuum, n the average refractive index of the cavity (n ≈ 1.5 in the case of a common single mode-fiber based cavity), and L is the cavity length. Figure 9.28a plots the output pulse spectra of wavelength-tunable pulses mode-locked by SWNTs [454]. Typical soliton sidebands were observed for the laser cavity without the intracavity filter. These can usually be attributed to perturbation of pulses propagating in the cavity, caused by paths with different dispersions as well as output coupling loss [3]. Soliton pulses lose part of their energy passing through different passive cavity components (e.g. output coupler), but then regain it in EDF during the cavity round trip. The

Fig. 9.28 Wavelength-tunable pulses mode-locked by nanotubes. (a) output optical pulse spectra, (b) output autocorrelation traces [454]

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soliton adjusts to these perturbations by forming dispersive waves, which appear as sidebands [3]. The pulse width can be measured using second harmonic generation (SHG) auto-correlation [435]. The pulses in Fig. 9.28b are fitted with a sech2 autocorrelation function, with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ∼ 3.68 ps. To get the pulse width, the autocorrelation width needs to be divided by the decorrelation factor for sech2 (1.54) [435], giving an average pulse duration of ∼2.39 ps.

9.12 Graphene for Ultrafast Photonics Various graphene based photonic and optoelectronic devices, from solar cells [269, 459] and light-emitting devices to touch screens [290, 470] and photo-detectors [473], have already been demonstrated. In graphene, interband excitation by ultrafast optical pulses produces a nonequilibrium carrier population in the valence and conduction bands, Fig. 9.29a. Time-resolved experiments give two typical relaxation timescales: a faster one ≤100 fs, usually associated with carrier-carrier intraband collisions and phonon emission, and a slower one, on a ps timescale, which corresponds to interband recombination and cooling of hot phonons [40, 49, 91, 411]. In addition, the linear dispersion of the Dirac electrons [40, 160, 311, 411] in graphene implies that for any excitation, there is always an electron-hole pair in resonance. Thus graphene is an ideal ultrafast wideband saturable absorber for ultrafast pulse generation. After the first demonstration of ultrafast pulse generation using graphene [160], a variety of ultrafast lasers mode-locked by graphene have been reported [40, 160, 288, 344, 400, 411, 414, 492]. Reference [411] explained the fundamentals of the photo-excited carrier dynamics in graphene saturable absorbers (GSAs), in good agreement with experimental results. Different fabrication strategies, e.g. liquid phase exfoliation [160, 161, 288, 344, 411, 414], CVD [491], reduced GO [400], carbon segregation from silicon carbide [445], and micro-mechanical cleavage [40, 67], have been used to fabricate GSAs. A widely used method involves wet chemistry processing of graphene-polymer composites, as discussed in the previous sections. Saturable absorbers using functionalized graphene (e.g. graphene oxide) have also been demonstrated for mode-locking [40]. Mode-locking of fiber [40, 160, 161, 288, 344, 400, 411, 414, 491] and solid-state [412, 424] lasers have been demonstrated with GSAs. Reference [344] reported sub-200 fs pulse generation using a GSA-based stretched-pulse cavity design. High output power (>1 W) has also been reported [412]. Unlike nanotubes, GSAs are intrinsically ultrawideband (Fig. 9.29b) [40, 160, 161, 411, 414]. GSAs have successfully been used to mode-lock lasers at 1 [424], and 1.5 μm [40, 160, 161, 344, 411, 414]. Recently, we demonstrated a widely tunable fiber laser mode-locked with a GSA (Fig. 9.29c) [40, 414]. It can produce picosecond pulses (Fig. 9.29d) in a tuning range of 1,525–1,559 nm (Fig. 9.29c), only limited by the filter used inside the cavity [40, 414]. In addition

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Fig. 9.29 Graphene based saturable absorbers: (a) Schematic of photo-excited electron kinetics in graphene, with possible relaxation mechanisms for the non-equilibrium electron population, (b) wideband saturable absorption of graphene, (c) output spectrum and (d) pulse duration measurements of wide-band tunable pulses mode-locked with graphene [411, 414]

to mode-locking, GSAs have also been used in Q-switching, for both wavelengthtunable [345] and dual-wavelength [274] lasers. These demonstrations underscore the potential of graphene for wideband ultrafast lasers, in principle, covering ultraviolet to THz spectral range [40, 311, 411].

9.13 Conclusions Both nanotube and graphene are very promising for near term optoelectronic applications. Research on SWNT based optoelectronics, in particular ultrafast pulse generation, has soared over the past few years. This is primarily because of their optoelectronic properties and ease of device fabrication. In this chapter, we presented an overview of their polymer composites, starting from solution processing of the raw nanotubes, their sorting, characterization and incorporation into polymers, device fabrication and testing. We have also discussed some of the main applications, with particular focus on saturable absorbers for ultrafast lasers. Graphene has

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also emerged as a strong competitor of SWNTs in the field of photonics and optoelectronics. We thus concluded this chapter with a discussion on graphene based devices for ultra wideband photonic and optoelectronic applications. Acknowledgments We thank D. Popa, F. Torrisi, F. Wang, W. B. Cho for useful discussions. TH acknowledges funding from King’s College, Cambridge, FB from a Newton International Fellowship, PHT from NSF of China (No. 10874177). ACF from EPSRC (Grant Nos. GR/S97613/01 and EP/E500935/1) ERC NANOPOTS, Royal Society Brian Mercer Award for Innovation, The Cambridge Integrated Knowledge Centre in Advanced Manufacturing Technology for Photonics and Electronics, the EU grants GENIUS and RODIN.

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Chapter 10

Electronic Transport in Carbon Nanotube Field-Effect Transistors J. Knoch and J. Appenzeller

Abstract In the present chapter we will discuss the electronic transport properties of carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs). Three different device concepts will be studied in more detail: Schottky-barrier CNFETs with metallic source and drain contacts, conventional-type CNFETs with doped nanotube segments as source and drain electrodes and finally a new concept, the tunneling CNFET. As it turns out, the main factors determining the electrical behavior of CNFETs are the geometry, the one-dimensionality of the electronic transport and the way of making contacts to the nanotube. Analytical as well as simulation results will be given and compared with each other and with experimental data in order to explain the different influences on the electronic transport in CNFETs and thus on the device behavior.

10.1 Introduction The enormous evolution of information technology has been made possible to a large extend by modern CMOS technology. In particular, the continued downscaling of the metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) has led to tremendous performance improvements over the past three decades. The gain of performance when scaling down the transistor dimensions has two origins: (i) an increase of the number of MOSFET devices per chip and (ii) an improvement of the electrical performance of each individual device. The very successful route of scaling, however, runs into severe problems in the very near future. This is the reason why researchers have been looking intensively at alternatives to the conventional bulk silicon MOSFET by exploring new materials as well as new device architectures as replacements and/or add-ons to current CMOS technology. In recent years, carbon nanotubes have attracted a great deal of attention as building blocks of future nanoelectronics circuits. As will be discussed in detail below, the main reasons for this are the inherent small dimensions of carbon nanotubes

J. Knoch (B) Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, RWTH Aachen University, Templergraben 55, 52056 Aachen, Germany e-mail: [email protected]


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Fig. 10.1 Typical output characteristics of a p-type CNFET; the lines are guides to the eye. The inset shows an electron micrograph of a CNFET with metallic contacts and large area back-gate

yielding optimal electrostatics gate control in ultimately scaled FET devices as well as a large carrier mobility even at room temperature [1–3]. The inset of Fig. 10.1 shows an SEM of a typical research device with metallic source/drain contacts and a large area back-gate. Representative output characteristics of a CNFET are shown in the main panel of Fig. 10.1. The device exhibits regular transistor characteristics with a linear increase of current for small and current saturation for large drain-source bias Vds showing that carbon nanotubes are a suitable class of material for realizing field-effect transistors. Substantial progress has been made recently in terms of understanding the transport properties as well as the role of the contacts on the behavior of nanotube-based FET devices [4–10]. Furthermore, researchers were able to fabricate and study novel device concepts including band-to-band tunnel FETs [11–13]. Significant progress has also been made regarding the growth of nanotubes in general, at pre-defined locations and in ordered arrays [14–17], as well as regarding the placement and alignment of nanotubes [18–21] and the integration into electronic circuits [22, 23]. Recently, a ring-oscillator fabricated on a single nanotube has been demonstrated for the first time that exhibits a strongly improved frequency response compared to previous realizations [24]. Figure 10.2 shows an SEM of such a ring-oscillator which allows studying the high-frequency capability of carbon nanotube devices representing a major step forward towards the realization of integrated circuits. Despite this very impressive progress it should be noted that a future nanoelectronics based on nanotubes would require fabricating billions of carbon nanotube transistors at certain positions with each tube having the same electronic properties on a small chip. Present technology is not yet at this stage. Independent of all technology related aspects it is fair to say however, that carbon nanotubes are an ideal work-horse to study and explore possible advantages of one-dimensional systems as active channel material for ultimately scaled transistor devices. The aim of the present chapter is to illuminate the specific advantages of carbon nanotubes for nanoelectronics applications which were already mentioned above:

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Fig. 10.2 SEM image of a ring oscillator fabricated on a single carbon nanotube [24]

the geometrical smallness enabling ultimately scaled FET devices, unique electronic transport properties and one-dimensional transport. After exploring these aspects in greater detail we will discuss specific examples that illustrate how the unique properties of nanotubes play an important role and enable a level of device optimization that is difficult if not impossible to obtain using other materials.

10.2 MOSFETs, Scaling and Short Channel Effects Figure 10.3 shows a schematics of an n-type MOSFET consisting of two n-doped regions called source and drain in a p-doped host substrate. A gate electrode of length L and width W resides on top of the substrate surface insulated from it by a gate dielectric of thickness dox . In operation a drain-source voltage Vds is applied and a drain current Id is mediated by applying a gate-source voltage Vgs at the same time. The electrical behavior of a MOSFET can be understood to a large extend by looking at the potential landscape inside the MOSFET at the substrate-gate dielectric interface as shown in Fig. 10.3 (light gray line). The two back-to-back n-p junctions at the source-channel and channel-drain interfaces lead to a potential variation in-between the source-drain electrodes with a potential barrier maximum denoted Φf0 . It is this potential barrier that determines the injection of carriers from the source and drain contacts into the channel giving rise to a certain charge density in and current through the channel.

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Fig. 10.3 Schematics of a conventional n-type bulk silicon MOSFET with channel length L and width W. The light gray line illustrates the conduction band profile within the device. The p-njunctions at the source-channel and channel-drain interfaces have a spatial extend of λ

For low gate voltages, the potential barrier (in the channel) is rather high and only carriers in the exponential tail of the source and drain Fermi distribution functions with energies larger than the potential maximum Φf0 are injected into the off channel yielding an off-state current Id ≈ exp −Φf0 kB T [25]. Changing the gate voltage yields a change of Φf0 and consequently the off-state current increases exponentially since an increasing fraction of the source Fermi distribution function contributes to the current; Fig. 10.4 shows this scenario schematically. Plotting the drain current Id as a function of Vgs on a logarithmic scale (see Fig. 10.4, right panel) yields an increasing current in the device’s off-state characterized by the −1 = so-called inverse subthreshold slope S given by S = ln(10) ∂Id ∂Vgs · 1 Id −1 0 0 ln(10) ∂I ∂Φf · ∂Φf ∂Φg · (−q) Id . In the ideal case of perfect gate control the change of gate voltage leads to the same change of Φf0 , i.e. ∂Φf0 ∂Φg = 1 and therefore S = kB T q·ln(10) ≈ 60 mV/dec at room temperature. This means that for a change of current by one order of magnitude at least 60 mV gate voltage change is required. It is important that S should be as steep as possible in order to reach low off-state currents within a certain, fixed voltage range. The thermal broadening of the source Fermi distribution function ultimately is responsible for the minimum inverse subthreshold slope of 60 mV/dec which is true for any conventional FET independent of dimension or material in use. For gate voltages larger than the threshold voltage Vth (see Fig. 10.4), Φf0 is moved close to the Fermi level and the transistor reaches its on-state. The electrical behavior and in particular the dependence of drain current on Vds can again be understood by looking at the conduction band shown in Fig. 5a. The total drain current Id is essentially the difference between the current flow from source to drain and vice versa which is determined by the difference of the source and drain Fermi distribution functions. Thus, for low Vds (black curve in Fig. 10.5a) this difference

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Fig. 10.4 Left: Conduction band profile along current transport for various gate voltages in a conventional FET. Right: Transfer characteristic showing an exponential increase of current in the device’s off-state

Fig. 10.5 (a) Conduction band along current transport direction in the on-state of a MOSFET for three different bias voltages. (b) Displays the output characteristics indicating the current that belongs to the respective band profiles

yields a linear relationship Id ∝ Vds . However, with increasing bias, the drain Fermi level is moved away from the source Fermi level and eventually Id consist solely of carriers with energies larger than Φf0 injected from source. As a result, the drain current saturates and output characteristics as displayed in Fig. 10.5b are obtained. It is important to note, that saturation is only achieved if Φf0 is not affected by Vds which is the case in a long-channel MOSFET where the source-channel and channel-drain p-n-junctions are well separated from each other (see e.g. Fig. 10.3). The saturation current can be calculated using the so-called gradual channel approximation leading to [26] Idsat

2 μeff Vgs − Vth ≈ WCox L 2

(10.1)

where Cox = ε0 εox dox is the geometrical gate oxide capacitance per area, μeff is the effective carrier mobility and W and L are the width and channel length of

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the device (see Fig. 10.3). Note, however, that expression (10.1) is only valid in long channel devices. In transistors with a short channel length, high electric fields occur that lead to a saturation of carrier velocity vsat due to increased scattering mainly with optical phonons. As a result, the saturation current deviates from the 1/L dependence stated above [27]. In the limit of very short channel lengths, the velocity-saturation current Idsat ≈ WCox vsat (Vgs − Vth ) is substantially smaller than expected from expression (10.1) and does not depend on L anymore. Also note that Idsat exhibits a linear dependence on Vgs − Vth consistent with experimental observations. If, on the other hand, the ballistic transport regime is reached by scaling the channel length significantly below the mean free path for scattering, the current Idsat also becomes independent of the channel length L. However, in the ballistic case the saturation current is significantly larger than the current given by Eq. (10.1) as well as the velocity-saturation current. In this case, current saturation occurs due to an exhaustion of carriers injected from source over the maximum potential barrier Φf0 as schematically shown in Fig. 10.5.

10.2.1 Improving MOSFET Performance – Scaling and Carrier Mobility Improving the performance of MOSFETs can be traced back to two distinct requirements. First, the on-state performance of MOSFETs should be as good as possible. The saturation current of MOSFETs given by Eq. (10.1) suggests, that increasing e.g. the width W of the device yields an improved performance. However, in a circuit the necessary gate voltage to switch a transistor “2” is build up by charging its gate capacitance with the drain current of a device “1”. Therefore, since the drain current of device “1” and the gate capacitance of “2” both scale with W increasing the width does not improve the switching speed of MOSFETs. An appropriate figure of merit to measure the on-state performance is the device delay time τ = Cg Vdd /Id where Vdd is the supply voltage and Cg ≈ W·L·Cox in a conventional bulk-MOSFET [27]. τ is a measure of how much charge on the gate is needed in order to realize a certain on-state current and therefore provides a figure of merit that is independent of geometrical factors such as the gate width and also the gate oxide thickness. Inserting the saturation current of a long channel MOSFET given by Eq. (10.1) or the velocity-saturation current into the expression for τ yields τlong channel ∝

L2 Vdd · , μeff (Vdd − Vth )2

τvelocity saturation ∝

L Vdd (10.2) · vsat (Vdd − Vth )

respectively, where Vdd is the supply voltage. Increasing Vdd and/or the difference Vdd − Vth reduces τ . However, the second performance requirement states that the total power consumption given approximately by P ≈ ACtot (Vdd )2 f + Vdd Ileak

(10.3)

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should be as small as possible. Here, the first term is the dynamic part of the power consumption due to continues charging and discharging of a total load capacitance Ctot with frequency f and the second term is the static power consumption due to leakage currents. Obviously, Eq. (10.3) suggests reducing the supply voltage due to the quadratic dependence on Vdd which, however, will degrade the on-state performance. Moreover, increasing Vdd − Vth by reducing Vth leads to exponentially increasing leakage currents in the device’s off-state thereby drastically increasing the static part of the power consumption. The reason for this is the limitation of any FET to an inverse subthreshold slope of 60 mV/dec that requires a minimal gate voltage range for a proper switching behavior. As a result, there is a lower limit for Vdd and Vdd − Vth scaling and therefore, a further performance gain results from a down-scaling of the channel length L and an improvement of the carrier transport properties; ultimately, ballistic transport is most desirable yielding the smallest device delay times (note that although in the ballistic case the delay time scales only proportional to L it is always smaller than in the case of scattering limited transport [12]). As will become clear below, carbon nanotubes are ideally suited for future nanoelectronics devices since they allow combining ultimate scaling of FET device with superior electronic transport properties.

10.2.2 Short Channel Effects Scaling is a very powerful concept that enables significant performance improvements. However, it potentially leads to so-called short-channel effects (SCE) if the channel length becomes comparable to the spatial extent of the source-channel and channel-drain p-n junctions. Figure 10.6 shows the conduction band profile in the direction of current transport in the case of a long-channel FET and a device with short L. The spatial extent of the p-n-junctions is denoted with λ which is the relevant length scale for potential variations. Obviously, in the case of a short channel length, the p-n-junctions strongly overlap such that the maximum potential barrier Φf0 is substantially reduced compared to the long-channel case. As a result, short channel devices will exhibit significantly larger off-state currents at the same gate voltages. In addition, the overlapping p-n-junctions yield Φf0 to be dependent on Vds and moreover result in a loss of gate control, i.e. ∂Φf0 ∂Φg < 1. Hence, the switching behavior of FETs suffering from SCE is deteriorated and off-state leakage is strongly increased which in turn drastically increases the power consumption. To avoid the appearance of SCE one has to make sure that during scaling λ L is preserved. It has been shown that the potential profile within MOSFETs can be described by a one-dimensional, modified Poisson equation for the surface potential f at the channel-gate dielectric interface of the following form [13, 28] ∂ 2 Φf (x) Φf (x) − Φg − Φbi eρ(x) − =− ε0 εr ∂x2 λ2

(10.4)

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Fig. 10.6 Down-scaling of the channel length. If λ ≈ L, the source-channel and channel-drain p-n-junctions overlap and lead to “drain-induced-barrier-lowering”

Here, g and Φbi are the gate and built-in potentials, ρ is the carrier density and εr is the relative dielectric constant. Equation (10.4) implies that the presence of the gate (enforcing a constant potential) leads to an exponential screening of potential variations on the length scale λ, where λ depends on the device structure, the gate oxide thickness dox and channel layer thickness dch . If, for instance, instead of a single gate a double-gate device structure is realized the potential within the channel will be restricted to the area in-between the two gates and as a result, the source-channel and channel-drain p-n-junctions will exhibit a smaller spatial extent, i.e. λ is smaller. Eventually, multi-gate devices and in particular gate-all-around (GAA)-FETs provide optimal scalability. To be specific, in a cylindrical GAA-FET as illustrated in 2 Fig. 10.7a the screening length is given by λ = (εnt dnt ln(1 + 2dox /dnt )) (8εox ); scaling down the gate oxide thickness and the channel diameter yields smaller λ

Fig. 10.7 (a) Illustration of the cylindrical device geometry under consideration. (b) Shows the conduction band profile for different screening lengths λ

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and thus steeper p-n-junctions effectively suppressing SCE as schematically shown in Fig. 10.7b (compare green and blue conduction band profile). For instance, in the case of a diameter of the cylindrical channel of dch ≈ 2 nm and an oxide thickness of dox = 1 nm one obtains λ = 1.2 nm. In order to avoid SCE, the channel length should be at least L ≥ 3.4 × λ which in turn means that a minimal channel length of approximately 5 nm can be obtained.

10.3 Why Carbon Nanotubes? Consider a sheet of graphene as schematically shown in Fig. 10.8a. In graphene, sp2 hybridization yields three of the four valence electrons of carbon to form in-plane, covalent σ bonds with their neighboring carbon atoms while the fourth valence electron is located in the remaining p-orbitals that result in bonding π and antibonding π∗ bands. Figure 10.8c shows schematically the hexagonal 1st Brillouin zone. The π and π∗ bands, i.e. valence and conduction bands meet at the K and K points and form cones with linear dispersion relation. Since each carbon atom provides one electron the π bands are occupied whereas the π∗ bands are empty and hence the Fermi energy is energetically located at the band crossing. In a two-dimensional system, however, the density of states vanishes at the crossing point and thus, graphene is a zero-gap semiconductor. A so-called (n,m) carbon nanotube is formed by cutting out a graphene stripe − → → → a2 (gray shaded area in Fig. 10.8a) and perpendicular to the vector C = n− a1 + m− − → rolling up the sheet to a nanotube with circumference C (depicted in Fig. 10.8b). − − → → Quantization along C leads to the requirement k⊥ · C = n · 2π due to peri → n = 2π n − odic boundary conditions. The intersection of planes with constant k⊥ C with the cones of the graphene dispersion relation results in a sequence of onedimensional subbands (see Fig. 10.8c, d). If the quantization condition is such that a constant k⊥ -plane crosses the K/K points, a constant density of states at the Fermi energy and hence a metallic nanotube results (due to the linear dispersion relation and one-dimensionality). If, on the other hand, the K/K -points do not fulfill the quantization condition, the nanotube will be semiconducting with an energy gap Eg − → that scales with Δk⊥ = 2π C , meaning that Eg is inversely proportional to the circumference and hence diameter of the nanotube (see Fig. 10.8c, d). Furthermore, the energetic spacing between two subsequent one-dimensional subbands (depicted in Fig. 10.8d) also increases with decreasing nanotube circumference and it has been shown that the spacing between first and second subband is in the range of a few 100 meV for nanotube diameters of 1.2 nm (see e.g. [5]). Hence, electronic transport can be truly one-dimensional at room temperature in carbon nanotubes of sufficiently small diameter. As will be discussed in detail below, the one-dimensionality plays a decisive role for the performance of novel device designs such as tunneling FETs.

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Fig. 10.8 (a) Cutting a stripe (gray shaded) out of a graphene layer and rolling up along the circumference yields a carbon nanotube (b). (c) displays the 1st Brillouin zone in graphene. The − → quantization condition along C yields one-dimensional subbands. If the quantization planes do not cross the K/K -points the nanotube is semiconducting (d)

The fact that a nanotube consists of a stripe of graphene rolled up to a seamless tube with perfectly periodic boundary conditions for the electronic waver functions perpendicular to the nanotube axis is the main reason why carbon nanotubes are such ideal one-dimensional systems. While 1D nanowires can be fabricated either by e.g. a bottom-up method such as vapour-liquid-solid growth or by a top-down approach, in particular from III-V semiconductors, these systems always exhibit a disturbance of the periodic lattice at the boundaries leading to interface states, surface roughness etc., all of which lead to charge carrier scattering and hence limit the effective carrier mobility. In carbon nanotubes exceptionally high carrier mobilities up to 100,000 cm2 /Vs at room temperature [1] have been measured and nanotubes therefore can operate as ballistic FET devices [2, 29]. Moreover, when scaling down

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the channel length of an FET, λ has to be scaled accordingly which essentially means that, both, the gate oxide thickness and the channel layer thickness (body thickness) have to be scaled down as was discussed in Section 10.2. In this respect, one of the major benefits of carbon nanotubes is their inherent small diameter in the few nanometer range making them ideally suited for ultimately scaled FET devices. In addition, due to their cylindrical shape, nanotubes allow realizing a wrap-gate architecture that enables the tightest gate control over the channel layer, i.e. they allow realizing the smallest possible values for λ which can be on the order of 1–2 nm for thin gate oxides [30]. As a result, carbon nanotubes allow obtaining an optimum on-state performance by providing ultimate scalability in combination with superior electronic transport properties making nanotubes a premier choice for future nanoelectronics devices.

10.4 CNFETs – Ultimate Ultrathin-Body Schottky-Barrier MOSFETs The easiest way of fabricating a CNFET is to disperse a carbon nanotube on an oxidized piece of silicon and contact it with metal electrodes (see Fig. 10.9). The silicon wafer then serves as a large area back gate and the oxide on top plays the role of the gate dielectric. At the metal-nanotube contact a Schottky-contact can be expected with a Schottky-barrier of height ΦSB as illustrated in the right panel of Fig. 10.9. Although it has been shown that the picture of a simple metal-semiconductor contact is insufficient to describe all aspects of the electrical behavior of CNFETs with metallic contacts [31], it is able to explain the transport phenomena relevant to the present analysis. Doped source and drain contacts are incorporated by taking a part of the electrodes in the calculation into account. Figure 10.10a shows representative transfer characteristics for various drainsource voltages of a SB-CNFET. The device exhibits ambipolar behavior, typical of Schottky-barrier FET devices. Moreover, if one extracts the inverse subthreshold

Fig. 10.9 Left: Schematics of a back-gated SB-CNFET. The right panel shows the conduction and valence bands of a p-type SB-CNFET in the device’s on-state

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Fig. 10.10 (a) Transfer characteristics of a SB-CNFET. The inverse subthreshold slope is extracted as inidicated by the red dashed line. (b) Inverse subthreshold slope as a function of gate oxide thickness extracted from a number of experimental devices ([7] and references therein)

slope S (indicated by the red dashed line) for devices with varying gate oxide thickness one observes a strong dependence of S on the gate oxide thickness as shown in Fig. 10.10b [7]. Using a simple analytical model for the potential profile at the source Schottky diode it will be shown in the next section, that this peculiar behavior (not expected in conventional-type FETs as long as electrostatic integrity is preserved) is a consequence of the dependence of the carrier injection through the Schottky barrier on the screening length λ [32]. The solid red line in Fig. 10.10b is a result of this model showing excellent agreement with the experimental data in the device’s off-state.

10.4.1 Transport in SB-CNFETs – Off-State It has been mentioned above that the modified Poisson equation (10.4) leads to an exponential screening of potential variations on the length scale λ which in turn depends on the nanotube diameter and gate oxide thicknesses. This means that the Schottky barriers can be made “thinner” and therefore more transparent if dnt and dox are made thin which is reflected in a different electrical behavior. In order to investigate the impact of the nanotube diameter, gate oxide thickness and effective carrier mass on the transmission through the Schottky barriers we have simulated transfer characteristics as a function of temperature for devices exhibiting (i) dnt = 1.4 nm, dox = 2 nm and m∗ = 0.1 m0 , (ii) dnt = 1.4 nm, dox = 10 nm and m∗ = 1.0 m0 (iii) dnt = 5 nm, dox = 10 nm and m∗ = 1.0 m0 . Typical Arrhenius eff plots were employed to extract the effective Schottky barrier height ΦSB using

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Fig. 10.11 (a) Extracted effective SB heights (data points, see text for details) versus gate voltage. The lines belong to the analytical calculation. (b) shows the conduction band for four different gate eff voltages. If the extracted SB is larger than the actual barrier height a one-to-one change of ΦSB with gate voltage is observed as indicated by the horizontal dashed lines

eff Id ∝ T 2 exp −qΦSB kB T in our analysis [33]. If the gate voltage is such that the potential Φf0 lies above the Schottky barrier at the source contact (dark gray curves in Fig. 10.11b) then Φf0 is the maximum potential barrier that determines the current flow instead of the Schottky barrier. Furthermore, this potential barrier changes one-to-one with changing gate voltage (see discussion above) and consequently, eff eff one expects that in this regime Φf0 = ΦSB and that ΦSB changes one-to-one with gate voltage. This behavior is indeed observed indicated by the horizontal lines in Fig. 10.11a. For larger gate voltages, on the other hand, the bands are pushed below eff the source side Schottky barrier (light gray curves in Fig. 10.11b) and ΦSB as a function of Vgs deviates from the one-to-one behavior. In fact, in bulk-like, large Schottky contacts, increasing the gate voltage should only lead to a small decrease eff of ΦSB (due to the Schottky effect [26]). However, in ultrathin-body devices such as CNFETs one would expect a stronger reduction of the effective Schottky-barrier due to the tighter gate control over the potential distribution of the barrier. This eff is exactly what is observed when ΦSB is extracted in the cases (ii) and in particular (i). Whereas in the case (iii) with large carrier mass, thick gate oxide and nanotube diameter, the effective barrier is only lowered slightly with increasing gate eff voltage. The impact of Vgs on ΦSB increases continuously when all three parame∗ ters (m , dox , dnt ) are decreased. In the case (i) the gate control over the effective eff Schottky-barrier is so strong that ΦSB changes almost one-to-one even if Φf0 is significantly less than ΦSB . For large gate voltages negative effective barriers can be achieved in this case, meaning that an excellent injection of carriers from the source Schottky contact into the channel can be expected. A CNFET with such a “thin” Schottky-barrier should accordingly exhibit an excellent off- as well as on-state. We will now quantify the impact of dnt and dox on the effective Schottky eff barrier ΦSB . In the off-state of a transistor the charge in the channel is small

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and can to first order be neglected. This means that the modified Poisson equation (10.4) can be solved analytically leading to a potential landscape Φf (x) = ΦSB − Φf0 exp(−x/λ)+Φf0 at the source Schottky diode where Φf0 = Φg +Φbi . We introduce a tunneling distance dtunnel such that the transmission probability for carrier injection is set to unity if at a certain energy the potential barrier is thinner than dtunnel and T(E) = 0 otherwise. Consequently, the effective Schottky barrier height eff is simply ΦSB (λ, Φg ) = Φf (dtunnel ) = ΦSB − Φf0 exp(−dtunnel /λ) + Φf0 . This sceeff

nario is illustrated in Fig. 10.11b where ΦSB is shown for two different gate voltages (dark gray circles). An estimation for dtunnel can be obtained if the Schottky barrier is approximated with a triangularly shaped potential of height ΦSB and width λ. It is important to note that dtunnel is not the length scale λ over which band bending occurs. Using the transmission probability calculated with the WKB approximation an expression for dtunnel can be obtained that shows √ a weak dependence on ΦSB as well as dnt and dox ; however, dtunnel scales as 1 m∗ [34]. Due to the exponential eff dependence of ΦSB (λ, Φg ) on λ the effective Schottky barrier height can be lowered more efficiently with increasing gate voltage in the case of ultrathin dnt and dox eff (and small effective masses). Hence, the same behavior of ΦSB is obtained with this simple model as in the case discussed above where the effective Schottky barrier height was extracted from temperature dependent simulations of the transfer characteristics. Indeed, the dotted lines in Fig. 10.11a are calculated using the model (all calculated with the same, constant dtunnel ) and show excellent agreement with the extracted data points. Only in the case of (i) and large gate voltages a deviation is seen which is expected since for such low barriers the charge within the channel plays an important role in determining the potential landscape of the source side Schottky diode. This, however, has not been taken into account in this analysis (see the next section for details). A closed expression for the inverse subthreshold slope can be calculated using eff the effective Schottky barrier height as follows. For large Vds and ΦSB (λ, Φg ) > kB T eff the current in the off-state is proportional to Id ∝ exp − ΦSB − Efs kB T and with eff eff −1 S = ln(10) ∂Id ∂ΦSB ∂ΦSB ∂Vgs (1/Id ) it is easy to show that

dtunnel >λ kB T 1 1 λ kB T . ln(10) ln(10) + S= ≈ q q 2 dtunnel 1 − exp(−dtunnel λ)

(10.5)

Equation (10.1) implies that in an SB-FET, even in the long channel case, S strongly depends on λ which is not the case in conventional-type devices. The solid line in Fig. 10.10b is calculated using Eq. (10.5) showing excellent agreement between experimental data and model. Second, S in an SB-FET is always larger than in a conventional FET but can be made small using an ultrathin channel layer and thin gate oxides. Hence, the small diameter of nanotubes explains why in SB-CNFETs steep inverse subthreshold slopes of ∼100 mV/dec can be observed even in devices exhibiting a gate oxide thickness as large as 10 nm [7, 35]. (Note that the discussion

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Fig. 10.12 Effective Schottky barrier height as a function of gate voltage extracted from temperature dependent measurements of experimental SB-CNFETs (taken from [33])

above is not restricted to carbon nanotubes but holds true also for other UTB devices such as SOI SB-MOSFETs [36]). The ability to significantly lower the effective Schottky barrier height with increasing gate voltage in SB-CNFETs has also been observed experimentally. eff Figure 10.12 shows ΦSB as a function of gate voltage. The experimental curve exhibits qualitatively the same dependence as the simulated data.

10.4.2 Transport in SB-CNFETs – On-State In the device’s on-state the charge in the channel cannot be neglected anymore since it will have a significant impact on the potential distribution within the channel and in turn also on the potential landscape of the source and drain Schottky diodes. In order to account for the charge in the channel and also for scattering in the channel we subdivide the channel into two segments. The first segment (called “1” in the following) comprises the Schottky diode and has a spatial extend on the order of λ, as illustrated in the left panel of Fig. 10.13. The second segment (“2”) extends up to the drain contact (where the particular potential landscape at the drain Schottky diodes is disregarded for simplicity). Depending on the tunneling probability through the source Schottky barrier and the scattering within the channel, part of the drainsource voltage will drop across segment 1 and the rest drops along the remainder of the channel. In order to calculate an approximate expression for the on-state current one has to compute Φf0 which allows computing the effective Schottky barrier height. However, to do so we need to know the charge density at the point x = λ (see Fig. 10.13). If we know the quasi-Fermi level in x = λ, Ef0 , we can approximately calculate the charge at this position by simply integrating over the product of the one-dimensional density of states at this position with an equilibrium Fermi

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Fig. 10.13 Left: Conduction band in the on-state of a SB-FET. Right: Current through the Schottky diode (solid curves) and the channel (dashed and dotted curves) as a function of the Fermi level at point “0” (taken from [37])

function with Ef0 . The quasi-Fermi level Ef0 on the other hand can be calculated by equating the individual current components through segment “1” and “2”, I1 = I2 , yielding lscat lscat + λ

∞

dE

eff

ΦSB

f (Efs ) − f (Ef0 )

lscat ∝ I1 = I2 ∝ lscat + L !

∞

dE f (Ef0 ) − f (Efd )

Φf0

(10.6) where we have accounted for scattering in the channel with a simple energyindependent transmission function T(E) = lscat (lscat + L) [38] as was also done above. For carriers that scatter within the steep potential variation region within segment one it is unlikey to be scattered back into the source contact once they have lost kB T in energy since the Schottky diode rapidly becomes “thicker” [39, 36] preventing the carriers to tunnel back. Thus, one has to modify the transmission function and replace the channel length L with λ in the I1 -term [36]. Equation (10.6) yields a transcendent equation for Ef0 that can be solved numerically or graphically. If we plot both current contributions in the same graph, then Ef0 is given by the intersect of the two curves. Note that Ef0 /q is the voltage that has dropped across segment one, i.e. at the Schottky barrier. This means, if Ef0 ≈ 0 then almost all of the drainsource bias drops across the channel whereas for |Ef0 | → qVds all voltage drops at the source Schottky diode. Since the tunneling probability through the Schottky barrier depends on dox , dnt but also on the gate voltage, Ef0 will be a function of these three quantities and the transcendent equation has to be solved for each set of parameters individually. Exemplarily, the right panel of Fig. 10.13 shows I1 (gray solid line) for a back-gated SB-CNFET with dox = 10 nm, dnt = 1 nm, a Schottky barrier of 0.3 eV and a mean free path of lscat = 100 nm; a bias of Vds = 0.5 V and Vgs = 0.5 V, i.e. in the device’s on-state, were assumed in the present case. I2 is plotted for three different channel lengths (see the figure for details). In the present

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case (which is typical of back-gated CNFETs) a significant part of the potential drops across the Schottky barrier for L = 100 nm and L = 1 μm. This means that the current through SB-CNFETs is determined by the Schottky barrier rather than the transport properties of the channel (note that this is also true for any other SBFET [36]). As such, SB-FETs can be denoted as “contact-switching” devices. The current is dominated by scattering within the channel only for very long channels (10 μm in the present case; see the black dashed line in the right panel of Fig. 10.13). The channel length for which scattering in the channel dominates over the scattering across the Schottky barrier depends exponentially on the SB height and λ; the resistance of the channel on the other hand increases only linearly with channel length L. Whereas in the case of L = 10 μm and the parameters given above (gray solid curve) Ef0 is close to zero, i.e. only a small fraction of the bias drops at the Schottky diode, this is very different in the case of increasing the actual Schottky height to 0.5 eV (green solid curve): again a substantial part of the bias drops across the Schottky diode making even longer channel lengths necessary for the electronic transport to be dominated by scattering within the channel. As a result, scattering in the channel only plays a role if (i) ΦSB is rather low and/or the Schottky barrier is very thin and thus highly transmissive or (ii) the channel is appropriately long. This has an important implication, namely that care has to be taken when one extracts the mobility from SB-CNFETs. This is only possible if the channel length is long enough such that the electrical behavior of the device is determined by the scattering in the channel and not by the tunneling through the Schottky diodes at the contacts. The required length can be quite long particularly in case of carbon nanotubes which exhibit rather long mean free paths. Having determined the quasi-Fermi level the charge at position “0” can be computed and hence Φf0 can be determined. To do so, we assume that around the position “0” the curvature term in the modified Poisson equation can be neglected and Φf0 is eff employed to compute ΦSB as a function of gate voltage. This task has to be done either numerically or with some approximation for the Fermi-Dirac intregral. The dependence of current on λ, however, can be stated explicitly as follows Id ≈

2e lscat eff eff kB T ln exp Efs − ΦSB kB T + 1 − ln exp Ef0 − ΦSB kB T + 1 . h lscat + λ (10.7)

Hence, the drain current strongly improves when decreasing λ even in the ballistic case due to the exponential dependence of the effective Schottky-barrier height on λ (see for instance [40]). The reason for this is again that the carrier injection into the channel is strongly improved in UTB SB-FETs with thin gate oxides.

10.4.3 Transport in SB-CNFETs – Ambipolar Behavior Contacting carbon nanotubes with metallic electrodes is an easy way to investigate the electronic transport in nanotubes in an FET device configuration. In the preceding sections we saw that the geometrical smallness of the nanotubes leads

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to a peculiar device behavior, particularly to a strong dependence of the on- as well as the off-state on the nanotube diameter and the gate oxide thickness. Both, the onstate as well as the off-state in terms of the inverse subthreshold slope improve when λ is made as small as possible. This means in particular, that in a contact switching device such as SB-CNFETs the gate oxide thickness should be as thin as possible in order to improve the device performance. However, an improvement of the carrier injection by making the Schottky barriers thinner leads at the same time to a significant increase of the off-state leakage current due to the ambipolar operation of SB-FETs [36]. For instance, suppose the Fermi level is pinned in a midgap position. Then the minimum drain current flows when Φf0 = Φd /2 + ΦSB = 1/2 · (Φd + Eg ) where d is again the drain potential. Since the minimum current situation is characterized by an equal electron and hole current as shown in the left panel of Fig. 10.14, Idmin (for large enough source-drain bias) is given by Idmin

4e ≈2× h

∞

s 8e Φd (1 − exp(−d/λ) + Eg ) (10.8) dE f Ef = kB T exp − h 2kB T

eff

ΦSB

where we have set Efs = 0 for simplicity. It is apparent that the minimum off-state leakage obtainable in SB-CNFETs exponentially depends on the size of the energy gap, the source-drain bias and on λ, making SB-CNFETs particularly vulnerable to high off-state leakage currents. Figure 10.14 (left panel) shows transfer characteristics of a SB-CNFET exhibiting the discussed strong ambipolar behavior with significantly increased off-state leakage. In fact, the on/off-ratio shrinks to less than three orders of magnitude in the case of Vds = 0.7 V which is attributed to the rather small band gap of the nanotube used for the present device [35]. The high off-state leakage which increases as λ is

Fig. 10.14 Experimental transfer characteristics of a SB-CNFET with titanium electrodes (taken from [35]). The device exhibits a strong ambipolar behavior with bias dependent off-state leakage. The right panel shows the conduction and valence bands at Vgs yielding the minimum current

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made smaller and the small on/off-ratio are unfavorable from an application point of view. In the next section we will therefore discuss conventional-type CNFETs and explore their electronic transport and applicability as FET devices.

10.5 Conventional-Type CNFETs In a conventional-type FET the source and drain electrodes consist of doped semiconductor portions, i.e. doped nanotube segments in the case of CNFETs. Since within the band gap of a semiconductor there are no states that can be occupied, doped semiconducting electrodes lead to a strong suppression of the ambipolar behavior and unipolar characteristics can be expected resulting in much smaller off-state leakage currents. Doping the nanotube on the other hand is not as simple as in silicon based devices. However, using a dual-gate architecture, doping can be realized electrostatically hence facilitating the investigation of transport in conventional-type carbon nanotube FETs (C-CNFETs). Such a dual-gate device has recently been demonstrated by Lin and coworkers which allowed a controlled transition from ambipolar to unipolar device behavior [35, 41]. Figure 10.15 shows a schematics of such a dual-gate transistor. A highly doped silicon substrate serves as a large area back-gate separated from the nanotube by a thermally grown SiO2 (10 nm in thickness in the actual experiment). This back-gate is used to electrostatically “dope” the source/drain extensions of length Lbg (typically on the order of 200 nm). In order to exclude any influence of the back-gate on the channel the actual gate is deposited on top of the SiO2 , effectively screening the electrical field of the back-gate. Afterwards, a thin oxide is grown on top of the actual gate (approximately 4 nm thick Al2 O3 is formed in the case of the devices presented in Ref. [35]; for more details on the fabrication see Ref. [41]).

Fig. 10.15 Schematics of a dual-gate CNFET structure. The source/drain extensions are electrostatically “doped” by applying a large back-gate voltage. The right panel shows the conduction and valence bands in case of a p-type C-CNFET in the “doped” source/drain region and the channel

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Fig. 10.16 Experimental transfer characteristics of dual-gate C-CNFETs (taken from [42]) in the case of a long channel with L = 200 nm (green curves) and for a scaled device with L = 40 nm (red curves)

Finally, the nanotube is dispersed on top of this dual-gate structure and contacted with titanium electrodes. For negative back-gate voltages, the device basically represents a conventional p-i-p FET structure. In operation, the back-gate is kept at a constant, negative gate voltage while the actual gate is swept from negative to positive voltages. For negative Vgs the device operates as conventional p-type FET with a unipolar behavior. Figure 10.16 shows transfer characteristics of a dual-gate C-CNFET with a channel length of 200 nm (green curves). The device shows regular FET transfer characteristics with an almost ideal inverse subthreshold slope of 65 mV/dec reinforcing that the device acts as a conventional-type transistor [35]. However, scaling down the channel length of such a transistor leads to an unexpected behavior in the device’s off-state: If the electrostatic integrity is preserved during scaling, the off-state should exhibit the same almost ideal inverse subthreshold slope in the long channel as well as in the short channel case. However, experimentally – although it is ensured that the device is electrostatically well-behaved – the scaled device with a channel length of 40 nm shows an increasing leakage current with increasing bias as well as a substantially larger inverse subthreshold slope [42] (red curves in Fig. 10.16). In order to investigate and explain this unusual behavior we performed simulations of C-CNFETs, discussed in the next section.

10.5.1 Charge Pile-Up in C-CNFETs Instead of calculating the entire device structure with back-gate we assumed a high doping level in the source/drain contacts giving rise to a certain Fermi energy below the valence band edge (see right panel of Fig. 10.15). Again, the non-equilibrium

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Fig. 10.17 (a) Local density of states in a C-CNFET. The large band-to-band tunneling probability gives rise to a charge pileup in the channel even in the device’s off-state [31]. (b) Shows transfer characteristics exhibiting the same behavior as experimentally observed

Green’s function formalism on a finite difference grid is used to compute the charge in and current through the transistor. We have simulated C-CNFETs with a channel length of 10 nm and gate oxide thickness of 3 nm for Vds = 0.3 and 0.5 V; the Fermi energy in the source/drain contacts of the C-CNFET is set to 0.1 eV and the band gap of the nanotube under consideration was 0.6 eV (see [43] for more details). Looking at the transfer characteristics of the simulated device, as displayed in Fig. 10.17b, it is apparent that they show the same, unusual behavior in the off-state as the experimental devices: below a certain gate voltage the current levels off at an inverse subthreshold slope far in excess of 60 mV/dec. The reason for this can be inferred by a closer look at Fig. 10.17a which is a log-scale plot of the local density of states in the C-CNFET at zero gate voltage. Since the maximum Vds = 0.5 V is smaller than the band gap and because the band gap truncates the Fermi distribution in the source/drain contacts of the C-CNFET, no electron leakage current can flow from drain to source. However, Fig. 10.17a reveals bound states with a high DOS in the conduction band within the channel area. Electrons are likely to be injected into the channel via band-to-band tunneling due to the low transport effective mass in nanotubes (around 0.1 × m0 ) and the steep n-p junction at the drain side of the device. This steep n-p junction is in turn a result of the small screening length λ, i.e. stems from the smallness of the nanotube diameter and the thin gate oxide. As a result, electrons are injected into the channel and get trapped since their flow is blocked by the energy gap of the source contact. Consequently, this leads to a charge pileup preventing the gate from effectively moving the bands to turn the device off. The reduced potential barrier on the other hand leads to a large hole leakage current in the off-state. However, as can be seen from the transfer characteristics in Fig. 10.17b, the charge pileup significantly deteriorates device performance only if eVds > Eg /2. For smaller bias the charge pileup is much less pronounced and allows for a proper off-state performance of the device. In this case, the C-CNFET provides higher on-state currents and steeper inverse subthreshold slopes compared

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to SB-CNFETs due to the absence of a potential barrier that limits the injection of carriers into the channel. Nevertheless, particularly for small band gap nanotubes the charge pileup can have a detrimental impact on the device performance of scaled C-CNFETs [43]. It is interesting to note that the increasing leakage current in the device’s off-state is not due to usual short channel effects since electrostatic integrity is preserved in the device. However, due to the pileup of electrons, there is a significant amount of charge in the channel even in the device off-state giving rise to a quantum capacitance [44, 45]. Since the quantum capacitance is proportional to the density of states and since in the present case carriers are injected from the drain contact via band-to-band tunneling, Cq ≈ 2 h 8m∗ (Φf0 − (Efs − eVds )) with Efd = Efs − eVds . Hence, the charge in the channel is given by Q = −Φf0 e · Cox + Cq where we have neglected a source/drain capacitance for simplicity since a long channel device exhibiting electrostatic integrity is assumed. At the same time Q = Cox Vgs + Cq Vds and therefore we obtain Φf0 =

Cq Cox Φg + Φd Cox + Cq Cox + Cq

(10.9)

For a proper device functionality, i.e. without short channel effects, it is required that in the off-state ∂Φf0 ∂Φg = 1 for constant d since this leads to a one-toone change of the surface potential with changing gate voltage and hence to S = 60 mV/dec as discussed in Section 10.1. In addition, to suppress drain-induced bar rier lowering, i.e. SCE, ∂Φf0 ∂Φd should be as small as possible (see Section 10.2). In a conventional and electrostatically well-behaved device ∂Φf0 ∂Φd ≈ 0 and in the off-state also Cox Cq and consequently the device will be free of short channel effects. However, in the present, peculiar case Cq > Cox even in the off-state because of the charge pileup. This means that if the device does not operate in the quantum capacitance limit, i.e. Cq > Cox short channel effects appear (as indeed observed) although the device – from a pure geometrical point of view – should electrostatically be well-behaved. Again, the reason for this situation is the substantial band-to-band tunneling that leads to a large carrier density in the channel although the device is in the off-state. In order to avoid the charge pileup in devices based on low-band gap nanotubes to have a significant impact on the device characteristics the gate oxide has to be scaled towards the quantum capacitance limit where Cox Cq . In this case the large off-state leakage and its dependence on Vds vanishes as has been confirmed with simulations (not shown here). As a result, in scaled C-CNFETs based on small band gap nanotubes the gate oxide needs to be scaled much more than expected to avoid short channel effects contrary to conventional bulk-like MOSFETs.

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10.6 Tunneling CNFETs We have seen above that in terms of applicability the conventional CNFET shows a superior on- as well as off-state performance compared to the SB-CNFET if the drain voltages are restricted to about half of the band gap of the carbon nanotube. In addition, the small diameter together with a wrap-gate architecture allows to scale conventional-type transistors to smallest dimensions. However, even if an ideal conventional-type CNFET can be manufactured, this device architecture in general suffers from a fundamental problem: any conventional-type FET is limited to a minimum inverse subthreshold slope of 60 mV/dec at room temperature as has been discussed in Section 10.1. This limitation is a major obstacle to further reduce the supply voltage and hence the power consumption of integrated circuits. Provided a certain ratio between the off-state and the on-state current of approximately 3 orders of magnitude is required and if we assume that two thirds of the maximum applied gate voltage are needed to obtain a high on-state current, one needs at least a gate voltage range of 3 × (3 · 60) = 540 mV to properly operate the device. In turn this means that scaling down the supply voltage of devices limited to an S = 60 mV/dec leaves only two options: either the off-state leakage is increased or the onstate performance deteriorated. Therefore, transistor devices that show an inverse subthreshold slope significantly steeper than 60 mV/dec and still provide a high on-state performance are highly desirable. It has been discussed above that the reason for the limit of S to a minimal value of 60 mV/dec is the fact that the switching mechanism of conventionaltype devices relies on the modulation of the injection of carriers from a thermally broadened Fermi function. Hence, in order to achieve subthreshold swings below 60 mV/dec, the current injection from the source contact has to be modified in a way that it becomes independent of a thermally broadened Fermi distribution function. Recently, band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) has been proposed as an effective means to accomplish this [11, 21, 46–48]. A device consisting of a p-doped source(drain), an intrinsic channel and an n-doped drain(source) (p-i-n) is ideally suited for this purpose. In the following we will investigate the electronic transport in such p-i-n- or tunneling FETs and show that carbon nanotubes enable the realization of high-performance tunneling FETs with steep inverse subthreshold slopes and good on-state performance due to their small diameter and in particular due to the one-dimensional transport. Consider a device structure as depicted in Fig. 10.18. In order to obtain an optimal gate control over the bands in the channel the transistor exhibits a wrap-gate and a thin gate oxide. The entire device is embedded into SiO2 and sits on a grounded silicon wafer. We have simulated the electronic transport in such tunneling nanotube transistors using the non-equilibrium Green’s function formalism together with the modified Poisson equation (10.4) presented above. The right panel of Fig. 10.18 shows the conduction and valence bands in a tunneling FET in the on-state. At the source-side n-p junction BTBT leads to injection of holes from the source contact into the channel constituting the on-state current.

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Fig. 10.18 Left: Schematics of the device structure of the tunneling CNFET under consideration. The right panel shows the conduction and valence bands in the device’s on-state

In the succeeding sections we will first discuss the working principle of a tunneling FET and investigate under what circumstance an S> Cq due to the decreasing density of states. In a tunneling FET Cq will be even smaller than in a conventional-type FET due to the proportionality to TWKB (this is true, as long as Efd is larger than the valence band in the channel). This means that in a wrap-gate tunneling FET with thin gate dielectric it is very likely that the quantum capacitance limit is reached and thus Cg ≈ Cq . At the same time, Id ∝ TWKB (cf. Eq. (10.10)) and therefore, the device delay Cg Vdd Id ≈ Cq Vdd Id becomes independent of TWKB . This means that to first order the presence of the BTBT barrier does not deteriorate the on-state

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of 1D tunneling FETs in terms of the device delay. Furthermore, in case of a small λ, i.e. small nanotube diameter and thin gate oxide thickness, and well in the on-state (large ΔΦ > 0) the first term of Eq. (10.12) (lower part) can be neglected. In this case the device delay is given by Cg Vdd Id

e∂ ∂ΔΦ dE D(E) 1 − f Efs Vdd ≈ 2e h dE 1 − f Efs

(10.13)

which is the result one obtains in a conventional-type FET in the quantum capacitance limit. As a result, one-dimensional systems such as carbon nanotubes are ideally suited for the realization of tunneling FETs since one-dimensional tunneling FETs allow combining a high on-state performance with steep subthreshold swings.

10.6.2 Vertical Scaling of Tunneling CNFETs In order to get a large BTBT probability the exponent in Eq. (10.11) must be as small as possible. At the point where the tunneling FET starts to switch (i.e. where ΔΦ ≈ 0) the tunneling probability scales as Eg m∗ λ and thus a large tunneling probability can be obtained in principle by making all three quantities small. However, in reality certain trade-offs and dependencies have to be taken into account. Firstly, decreasing Eg improves the tunneling probability but also leads to a rapid increase of the off-state leakage since the latter depends exponentially on the size of the energy gap. Furthermore, the tunneling FET also shows ambipolar behavior and only yields low off-state currents when the semiconductor gap in the channel area blocks electron injection from the valence band of the drain contact into the conduction band of the channel as well as hole injection from the conduction band in source into the valence band in the channel area at the same time. Consequently, a reduction of the energy gap lowers the applicable drain-source bias range accordingly. Secondly, when scaling down the diameter of the active channel material one has to take into account the dependence of the effective mass and the energy gap on the diameter. The particular dependencies on dnt are advantageous in carbon nanotubes: Eg as well asm∗ scale as 1/dnt [3, 51]. On the other hand, in a wrap-

2 ln(1 + 2d /d )/8ε gate architecture λ = εnt dnt ox nt ox and as a result, the product ∗ Eg m λ shows only a weak dependence on the diameter (it only strongly increases if dnt < 1 nm) with increasing the diameter leading to a slight improvement of the tunneling probability. For a desired size of energy gap and hence nanotube diameter, scaling the gate dielectric thickness and in particular employing high-k gate dielectrics are the most effective means to decrease λ, leaving Eg well as m∗ unaffected [49, 52]. Figure 10.22 shows a simulated transfer curve of a tunneling CNFET with a wrap-gate. Rather aggressively scaled geometrical parameters with dnt = 1 nm and dox = 1 nm are chosen in the present case (see Fig. 10.22a). The device exhibits

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Fig. 10.22 Transfer characteristics of a 1D tunneling CNFET (a). (b) displays the local hole distribution showing that holes are only injected within the energetic window Φ

an inverse subthreshold slope of 15 mV/dec over several orders of magnitude. For comparison, the inverse subthreshold slope of a conventional-type device is shown as well (black line). Figure 10.22b displays a log-scale plot of the local hole distribution, again showing that holes are injected into the channel only within the energetic window between the conduction band in source and the valence band in the channel. Similar to SB-FETs, in tunneling FETs the gate oxide should be as small as possible in order to guarantee a thin BTBT barrier and therefore a sufficiently high on-state current as well as steep inverses subthreshold slopes.

10.6.3 Lateral Scaling of Tunneling CNFETs In the present section we want to address two important points related to the scaling of the channel length in tunneling FETs. First, it is often said that tunneling FETs exhibit less short channel effects compared to conventional devices since the tunneling process only happens at the source-channel interface. However, similarly to conventional-type FETs the n-p junctions at the contact-channel interfaces have a spatial extend on the order of λ (see gray-shaded area in Fig. 10.23a). For a tunneling FET to show steep inverse subthreshold slopes it is necessary that the gate has a good electrostatic control to manipulate the bands one-to-one with changing gate voltage. This requires that the channel length must be significantly larger than λ which is the same requirement as for suppressing short channel effects in a conventional-type MOSFET. Figure 10.23a, b show conduction and valence band profiles in the case of a properly designed tunneling FET (a) and a device that exhibits short channel effects (b). In the case (a), the channel length is larger than the two n-p and p-n junctions (light gray-shaded area) such that a good gate control of the bands in the channel area can be expected. In the device (b) on the other hand the n-p and the p-n junctions significantly overlap (dark gray-shaded area) leading to a potential profile in

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Fig. 10.23 Conduction and valence bands in a tunneling FET in the off-state. (a) shows the case of a long channel device; (b) displays short channel device where the n-p and p-n junctions at the contact channel interfaces overlap significantly

the channel that is to a large extend determined by the drain potential rather than the gate. As a result, device (b) exhibits short channel effects leading to a much larger inverse subthreshold slope and drain-induced-barrier-thinning. Due to the n-i-p structure, however, a tunneling transistor that suffers from short channel effects can still exhibit small off-state currents (if the device is not scaled to such small channel lengths that direct source to drain tunneling leads to an increase of the offstate current). The averaged inverse subthreshold slope on the other hand will in the case of short channel effects be significantly larger than 60 mV/dec. Figure 10.24 displays transfer characteristics of tunneling FETs for different channel lengths; the smaller the channel lengths the more pronounced do short channel effects appear. Obviously, tunneling FETs that are not properly scaled show an increase of the inverse subthreshold slope diminishing the major benefit of the tunneling FET architecture. The second important point that we want to address in this section is the insensitivity of the drain current to changes in the channel length. It is often argued

Fig. 10.24 Transfer characteristics of tunneling CNFETs with different channel lengths. Devices with small channel length exhibit short channel effects

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that this is a major advantage of a tunneling FET. However, a tunneling FET is a contact-switching device very similar to a SB-FET. Hence, the same argument about the relevance of scattering applies in the present case: If the BTB tunneling is the main scattering event then scattering within the channel does not play a role anymore unless the channel is made sufficiently long. Again, the smaller the BTBT probability the longer the channel has to be in order for the scattering in the channel to dominate. As a result, the price for the insensitivity of the tunneling FET to channel length variations is a low BTBT probability and hence a low on-state current. On the other hand, if the BTBT probability is made large (i.e. λ is made small) much smaller channel lengths are sufficient to obtain scattering dominated transport through the device. Equation (10.11) allows obtaining an estimate of the channel length required for the scattering transport in the channel to become dominant. The transmission function due to scattering for carriers flowing through the channel can be estimated to be Tscat ≈ lscat (lscat + L). Then the overall transmission function is given as [38] Ttot =

TWKB Tscat = TWKB + Tscat − TWKB Tscat

√

1 3/2

4λ 2m∗ Eg exp 3q(Eg + ΔΦ)

. +

(10.14)

L lscat

This means, scattering in the channel becomes significant only for minimum chan√ 3/2 nel lengths Lmin ≥ lscat exp ((4λ 2m∗ Eg ) (3q(Eg + ΔΦ))). The exponential dependence of Lmin on λ on the other hand shows that for a realistic device geometry the minimum channel length can be rather long. In particular, if one considers planar tunneling FETs in silicon-on-insulator, for instance, the minimum channel length can easily be in the few micrometer range. Therefore, scattering in tunneling FETs usually can be neglected. However, one has to keep in mind that this implies a deteriorated on-state current due to a small BTB tunneling probability.

10.6.4 Experimental Realization As a first attempt to realize a tunneling FET experimentally we have measured the dual-gate nanotube FET presented in Section 10.4. The device essentially is a p-ip structure where the p-doped segments are realized with electrostatic “doping” of the source/drain extensions between the actual gate and metallic contact electrodes [11]. For negative gate voltages the device acts as a conventional-type transistor as has been discussed above: Negative gate voltages pull up the conduction and valence bands in the channel such that the thermal emission of holes increases. This operation mode and the respective band diagrams are schematically shown on the left of the main panel of Fig. 10.25. However, if large positive gate voltages are applied, the conduction and valence bands are pushed down far enough such that a channel for BTBT opens up between the valence band in source and the conduction band in

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Fig. 10.25 Transfer characteristic of a dual-gate CNFET. For negative gate voltages the device acts as a C-CNFET, for positive gate voltages as a T-CNFET with an inverse subthreshold slope of 40 mV/dec. The band profiles to the left and right show the main path for current flow in the respective operation mode (taken from [11])

the channel as indicated by the arrows in the band diagrams shown in Fig. 10.25 (to the right of the main panel). For increasing gate voltage the barrier becomes thinner and consequently the current increases. In the present case, we observe an inverse subthreshold slope in the BTB tunneling regime of S = 40 mV/dec which is to the best of our knowledge the first experimental demonstration of transistor operation with a slope better than 60 mV/dec due to controlled BTB tunneling in any material system [11]. In Fig. 10.25 we also plot the result of a simulation using the model presented above (solid lines). In order to keep the computational burden as small as possible a length Lbg = 20 nm and Lch = 30 nm were found to be well suited to describe the experimental device structure. The measured and the simulated transfer curves are in excellent agreement showing that the model captures well the essential transport mechanism in our dual-gate CNFET and more importantly it shows that the interpretation of the experimental data in terms of BTB tunneling is appropriate. Note that the rather low on-state current in the BTBT branch of the characteristics shown in Fig. 10.25 is due to the fact that the dual-gate structure is not ideal for a tunneling FET since the carriers have to tunnel through two potential barriers. Optimizing the gate oxide thicknesses and in particular realizing a p-i-n structure will greatly increase the current level in the device’s on-state (see for instance [21, 42, 47]).

10.7 Conclusion Carbon nanotube field effect transistors represent a relatively new class of fieldeffect transistor devices exhibiting very promising electrical characteristics as well as new and interesting device physics aspects. In the present chapter we studied the electronic transport in three different CNFET architectures. As it turned out, the inherently small diameter of carbon nanotubes and their cylindrical shape make

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them ideal objects for ultimately scaled devices. In addition, the one-dimensionality of the electronic transport in carbon nanotubes leads to distinctly different behavior if compared to bulk-like MOSFET devices. For instance, a charge pileup in the off-state of conventional-type CNFETs leads to short channel effects although the device is electrostically well behaved. Furthermore, due to the one-dimensional transport device operation in the quantum capacitance limit becomes attainable which is beneficial for the transistor performance of e.g. tunneling nanotube FETs. From an application point of view, the SB-CNFET is the easiest structure to fabricate but exhibits some drawbacks: the presence of the Schottky barrier yields either inverse subthreshold slopes significantly larger than 60 mV/dec if nanotubes with larger diameter are employed. Or improving the injection of carriers by using small diameter tubes and thin gate oxides leads to a rather large off-state leakage current. The C-CNFET shows characteristics superior to the SB-CNFETs. However, due to the charge pileup in these structures, the drain source-voltage should not exceed half of the band gap since otherwise short channel effect appear leading to large off-state leakage currents. The third transistor structure, the T-CNFET, shows very promising characteristics since this device architecture allows combining a superior off-state with inverse subthreshold slopes significantly smaller than 60 mV/dec together with a high on-state performance.

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35. Lin, Y.-M.; Appenzeller, J.; Knoch, J. and Avouris, Ph.; High-performance carbon nanotube field-effect transistor with runable polaritites, IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol., 4(5), 481–489 (2005). 36. Knoch, J.; Zhang, M.; Appenzeller, J. and Mantl, S.; Physics of ultrathin-body silicon-oninsulator Schottky-barrier field-effect transistors, Appl. Phys. A, 87(3), 351–357 (2007). 37. Appenzeller, J.; Knoch, J.; Björk, M.T.; Riel, H.; Schmid, H. and Riess, W.; Toward nanowire electronics, IEEE Trans. Electron Dev., 55, 2827–2845 (2008). 38. Datta, S.; Electronic Transport in Mesoscopic Systems, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 1995. 39. Guo, J. and Lundstrom, M.; Role of phonon scattering in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, Appl. Phys. Lett., 86, 193103 (2005). 40. Knoch, J. and Appenzeller, J.; Impact of the channel thickness on the performance of Schottky barrier metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors, Appl. Phys. Lett., 81, 3082–3084 (2002). 41. Lin, Y.-M.; Appenzeller, J. and Avouris, Ph.; Novel structures enabling bulk switching in carbon nanotube FETs, Dev. Res. Conf., Conf. Dig., 133–134 (2004). 42. Appenzeller, J.; Lin, Y.-M.; Knoch, J.; Chen, Z. and Avouris, Ph.; Comparing carbon nanotube transistors – the ideal choice: a novel tunneling device design, IEEE Trans. Electron Dev., 52(12), 2568–2576 (2005). 43. Knoch, J.; Mantl, S. and Appenzeller, J.; Comparison of transport properties in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors with Schottky contacts and doped source/drain contacts, Solid-State Electron, 49, 73–76 (2005). 44. John, D.L.; Castro, L.C. and Pulfrey, D.L.; Quantum capacitance in nanoscale device modeling, J. Appl. Phys., 96, 5180–5184 (2004). 45. Luryi, S.; Quantum capacitance devices, Appl. Phys. Lett., 52, 501–503 (1988). 46. Bhuwalka, K.K.; Novel tunneling devices for future CMOS technologies, PhD thesis, University of the German Armed Forces, Munich, 2005. 47. Koswatta, S.O.; Nikonov, D.E. and Lundstrom, M.S.; Computational study of carbon nanotube p-i-n Tunnel FET, IEEE Internat. Electron Dev. Meeting, Tech. Dig. (2005). 48. Zhang, Q.; Zhao, W. and Seabaugh, A.; Low-subthreshold-swing tunnel transistors, IEEE Electron Dev. Lett., 27(4), 297–300 (2006). 49. Knoch, J. and Appenzeller, J.; A novel concept for field-effect transistors – the tunneling carbon nanotube FET, Dev. Res. Conf., Conf. Digest, 153–156 (2005). 50. Knoch, J.; Mantl, S. and Appenzeller, J.; Impact of the dimensionality on the performance of tunneling FETs: bulk versus one-dimensional devices, Solid-State Electron, 51(4), 572–578 (2007). 51. Pennington, G. and Goldsman, N.; Low-field semiclassical carrier transport in semiconducting carbon nanotubes, Phys. Rev. B, 71, 205318 (2005). 52. Boucart, K. and Ionescu, A.; Double-gate tunnel FET with high-k gate dielectric, IEEE Trans. Electron Dev., 54(7), 1725–1733 (2007).

Chapter 11

Inorganic Nanotubes Maja Remskar

Abstract Since the first report on synthesis of the WS2 nanotubes in 1992, the number of articles on successful growth of different inorganic nanotubes increases rapidly revealing the importance of this field for nanotechnology. Although some geometrical similarities with carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanotubes distinguish themselves by important peculiarities, from the growth mechanisms to the physical and chemical properties attractive for possible applications. Their structural properties, important for potential applications for biosensors, drug delivery, safe containers, nanoreactors and strengthening fibres are discussed in this chapter.

11.1 Introduction Trend of miniaturization of electronic components by top down process is hindered by the current fabrication technology and challenged by increased power consumption and dissipation of heat. New visions are needed using low-dimensional phenomena and self-assembly. The particular physical and chemical properties of quasi one- and two-dimensional solids promise new inventions, new products and fresh contributions to human knowledge. Single molecules, single atoms or even single electrons coupled with strong quantum size effects constitute the limit stage in miniaturization. In addition to the size effects, the geometry of low dimensional materials is an important conceptual novelty in materials research. Creation of porous structures and channels is a natural way of thermodynamic stabilization of complex materials. The complementary forms to voids and pores are spheres and nanotubes, preferentially grown by spontaneous minimization of free energy by saturation of dangling bonds in self-closed nanoobjects. Mismatch strain at heterogeneous nucleation, local atmosphere in confined geometry as well as defect concentration and their distribution during growth play critical role in crystal structure and morphology of one dimensional materials, like nanowires and nanotubes. While in the emerging nanotechnology the nanowires are useful for interconnections between device elements, the nanotubes can serve as passive or/and active M. Remskar (B) Jozef Stefan Institute, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia e-mail: [email protected]


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electronic component depending on their electric, magnetic and size-effect properties. Their passive roles do matter as charge carriers’ media or as containers of encapsulated active components, while in the active role they represent a central carrier of a particular electronic property, like an electromagnetic object, transistor, field emitter of electrons, photoactive element, etc. The ultimate goal of reduction of the device size to nano scale meets both active and passive applications of nanotubes. Since 1991, when S. Ijima [1] reported on carbon nanotubes, and since 1992 with the first report on inorganic nanotubes by R. Tenne [2], nanotubes have become a symbol of the new and fast developing nanotechnology. Intensive enthusiasm for the new form of carbon has enabled fast growth of carbon nanotube community and intensive research in the field. Inorganic nanotubes remained in a shadow of carbon counterparts nearly for a decade. The chronological list of the very first reports of different kinds of inorganic nanotubes or rolled-up structures shows a level of activity in this field in the first decade: 1992 – WS2 [2]; 1993 – MoS2 [3]; 1995 – BN [4], SiO2 [5]; 1998 – TiO2 [6], VOx [7], NiCl2 [8]; 2000 – NbSe2 [9], Au [10], Co and Fe [11]; 2001– CdS [12], CdSe [13], ZnS [14], NiS [15], Cu5.5 FeS6.5 [16], Al2 O3 [17], In2 O3 and Ga2 O3 [18], GaN [19]; 2002 – ZrS2 and HfS2 [20], NbS2 and TaS2 [21], (Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) oxide [22], ZnO [23], BaTiO3 and PbTiO3 [24], Cu and Ni [25], Te [26], ReS2 [27], silicon nanotubes [28], etc. At present, nanotubular and fullerene-like allotropes of other chalcogenides as well as halogenides and oxides have been discovered and characterized [29–32]. Structural, optical and electrochemical properties of inorganic nanotubes, particularly MoS2 , WS2 , and of fullerene-like particles have been reviewed by Tenne [33, 34]. Methods for synthesizing inorganic nanotubes, together with simulations of their structures and predictions of their properties, have been reviewed by Ivanovskii [35]. Morphology properties were reviewed in 2004 [36]. The number of compounds synthesized in cylindrical shapes is continuously growing as well as variety of preparation techniques [31, 32]. While carbon nanotubes are already in a stage of applications, unusual properties of nanotubes made from inorganic materials offer intriguing possibilities for applications [37]. The MoS2 and WS2 nanotubes and fullerene-like particles, which still remain the most investigated non-carbon nanostructures, show superior catalytic and tribological properties compared with the bulk allotropes. They can be intercalated with alkali metals in the same way as the parent bulk forming new materials for micro and nano-electronics and for electrochemistry [38]. Electronic properties of MoS2 and WS2 are similar to silicon (an indirect band gap of 1.2 versus 1.12 eV for silicon). However, S-Mo-S or S-W-S layers with saturated surfaces are much more resistant to oxidation and humidity effects, what constitutes a considerable advantage of MoS2 compared with semiconductors of the groups IV (e.g. Si), III-V (e.g. GaAs), II-VI (e.g. CdS) and can make MoS2 and WS2 appropriate in nanoscale applications [39]. The only available data are on transport properties of fullerene-like WS2 nanoparticles published recently [40] revealing a comparable carrier density p(300 K) = 4 × 1016 cm–3 , while mobility was found to be very small (0.2 cm2 V–1 s–1 ) comparing to bulk WS2 (30 cm2 V–1 s–1 ). The results are blurred by an influence of water and hydrogen in the sample.

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Several applications of inorganic nanotubes can be foreseen in different industrial branches, like as nanoelectronic components, high-frequency modulators, polymercomposite materials, lubricants, shock resistance components, solar cell application, environmental purification or disinfection media, catalysis in green chemistry, biosensors, drug delivery, safe containers, nanoreactors, strengthening fibres, and others. Although there are some geometrical similarities to carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanotubes are distinguished by important peculiarities, from their growth mechanisms to the various physical and chemical properties that are attractive for potential applications. Their structural and morphological properties determining chemical stability and activity, transport properties, mechanics and interaction with other building blocks in composites, are discussed in this chapter.

11.2 Stability of Inorganic Nanotubes The proposed basis of the growth mechanism of inorganic nanotubes is the lack of resistance to bending of thin quasi two-dimensional crystal flakes [41]. This bending can be spontaneous, as in transition metal dichalcogenide [42] nanotubes (NTs) and in misfit layer compounds [43] grown from the vapour phase, or geometrically conducted by a template growth in channels of alumina membrane [18, 28] and as coatings of nanofibres [44, 45]. Cylindrical structure as an intrinsic property of some solids appears spontaneously from vapor or liquid phase only in a few compounds, like MoS2 , WS2 , K4 Nb6 O17 -(Cn H2n+1 NH3 )+ [46], while ternary or quarterly compounds usually need template method. Theoretical considerations suggest that, due to the strain energy coupled with bending, the narrow tubular structure might be less energetically favoured than a finite strip. But when the diameter passes a critical value, the strain in the tubes becomes smaller than the energy associated with the edges (dangling bonds) in the layered strips and the cylindrical geometry, with self-closed layers, becomes clearly the most stable structure [47]. The simple rolling of crystal flake does not usually lead to nanotube longitudinal growth if the stacking order and orientation relationship between two adjacent turns is not satisfied. It is true that the geometry of the folded flake is cylindrical, but such a formation can only grow in the radial direction until the strain energy no longer exceeds the energy gained by van der Waals interactions between layers. The interaction between the layers is usually weak and interlayer distances are arbitrary. On the contrary, if the conditions for stacking order and orientation relationship are satisfied, the interaction between the adjacent turns is stronger, but two limit cases still exist from the macroscopic point of view. In the case where van der Waals interaction energies between the planes are much smaller than those associated with covalent bonds, dislocations will be generated on bending. In other cases, dislocations will not form on bending and the system will remain coherent [48, 49]. Microscopically, the matching of adjacent layers at the atomic level, with consequent extension and/or contraction effects, contributes to the elastic energy caused

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by the enlarged circumference and by the bending of the molecular layers. The total elastic energy per primitive cell is larger in nanotubes than in microtubes, where the elastic energy is distributed over a larger number of atoms. Quantum-mechanical calculations for tubes with radii of 4–13 nm have shown that the strain energy for the smallest MoS2 tubes is at least one order of magnitude larger than that of carbon nanotubes with a similar diameter [50]. The rolling of a triple-atomic layer S-Mo-S into a narrow tube leads to increased steric crowding and depletion effects which result in a higher energy penalty than the one of rolling a single-atomic graphite monolayer. It also explains a preference for the formation of uncapped MoS2 tubes with open ends. As an example, MoS2 tubes, with a diameter larger than 6.2 nm, have been shown to be more stable than stripes π × 6.2 nm wide. In accordance with these calculations, the smallest inner diameter for singlewall NT should not be smaller than 6 or 7 nm. The smallest stable multi-wall NT has an inner diameter about 5 nm and a corresponding outer diameter of about 12 nm or larger [47]. Taking into account that the number of atoms N in a tube is proportional to R, the total energy per atom of a single-walled tube may be written as [51]: β Etot = ε∞ + 2 . N N ε∞ is the energy/atom in a 2D infinite monolayer. The second term is the strain energy which occurs as a consequence of the bending, when a monolayer is rolled up to a tube. The parameter β = 900 eV·atom can be obtained directly from calculations of the total energy for single-walled nanotubes [52]. For multi-walled nanotubes, the stabilizing inter-wall van der Waals interaction has to be added to the sum of the total energies for separate single-walled tubes. The expression for the total energy of a multi-walled nanotube consisting of k single-walled tubes may be written as: k β 1 k−1 Etot = ε∞ + εvdW ; + N N Ni k i=1

N=

k

Ni .

i=1

εvdW is the interlayer vander-Waals energy/atom. It is evident, that every MoS2 single-walled nanotube is energetically less preferable than a monolayer, because of the high strain energy. The additional van der-Waals interaction between the walls rapidly stabilizes multi-walled nanotubes compared with a monolayer already for about 200 and more atoms in the unit cell. These findings explain a preferential multiwall structure of inorganic nanotubes. There are some indications that symmetry rules increase stability if number of molecular layers matches the period of a unit cell in the corresponding direction. Even number of molecular layers in accordance with 2Hb polytypic stacking was found in narrow MoS2 and WS2 nanotubes. As example, number of molecular layers in a WS2 nanotube prepared by sulphurization of W5 O14 nanowire decreases by two molecular layered steps from 8, 6, to 4 (Fig. 11.1).

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Fig. 11.1 A TEM image of a WS2 nanotube with 8, 6, and 4 molecular layers in a wall thickness and an enlarged view of a two-molecular layer step at the inner nanotube’s surface (inset). Figure originally published in Nano Letters [91]

11.3 Variety of Inorganic Nanotubes Several families of inorganic nanotubes and fullerene-like particles have been synthesized up to now. The current list of some representative compounds for each of these families is as follows: (a) Transition metal chalcogenide NTs: MoS2 [3], MoSe2 [53], WS2 [2], WSe2 [53], NbS2 [21], NbSe2 [9], TaS2 [21], ZrS2 [20], HfS2 [20], TiS2 [54], ZnS [14], NiS [15], CdSe [13], CdS [12], VS2 [55]; (b) Oxide NTs: – transition metal oxides: TiO2 [6], ZnO [23], GaO/ZnO [56], VOx [57], W18 O49 [58], V2 O5 [59], Al2 O3 [17], AlOOH [60], In2 O3 [18], InVO4 [61], Ga2 O3 [18], BaTiO3 [24], PbZr0.52 Ti0.48 O3 [62], PbTiO3 [24], SnO2 [63], MgAl2 O4 [64]; MoO3 [65]; RuO2 [65] – silicon oxide: SiO2 [5, 59]; Ag2 SiO3 /SiO2 [28], Fe-doped chrysotile [66]; – rare earth oxides: (Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) oxide [22]; Y2 O3 :(Eu,Tb,Dy) [67], (Y, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) oxide [68] (c) transition metal halogenous NTs: NiCl2 [8] (d) mixed phase and metal doped NTs: PbNbn S2n+1 [69], Mo1–x WS2 [70], Wx Moy Cz Sz [71]; Nb-WS2 [72], WS2 -carbon NTs [44], NbS2 -carbon NTs [73]; Au-MoS2 [74], Ag-WS2 [74], Ag-MoS2 [74]; BaWO4 [75], SbPS4–x Sex [76], InGaAs/GaAs [77] (e) Boron and silicon based NTs: BN [59], BCN [78], Si [28]; (f) metal and metal oxide nanotubes: Au [10], Co [11], Fe [11], Cu [79], Ni [79], Te [26], Bi [80], Ni(OH)2 [81], LaNiO3 [82]

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(g) rare earth fluorides: NaHoF4 [83], NaSmF4 [83] (h) organic/inorganic nanotubes: PVP-TiO2 [84], K4 Nb6 O17 -(Cn H2n+1 NH3 )+ [46], (C4 H12 N)14 [(UO2 )10 (SeO4 )17 (H2 O)] [85], Eu2 O3 .carbon NTs [86] (i) Transition metal nitrides and carbides: AlN [87], WC [88], GaN [89]

The most important methods for growing inorganic nanotubes can be divided broadly into: (a) sulphurization, (b) decomposition of precursor crystals, (c) template growth, (d) precursor assisted pyrolysis, (e) misfit rolling, (f) direct synthesis from the vapour phase, (g) electrospinning, (h) precipitation, (i) self-assembly, etc. Some nanotubes grow only by the combination of several processes. For example, the first inorganic nanotubes synthesized in Tenne’s group were grown by sulphurization of the transition metal oxides [2]. The needle-like WO3–x served as precursor crystals for sulphurization and, at the same time, they acted as a template to dictate the nanotube size [90]. Recently it was found that the stoichiometry and surface structure of the WO3–x precursor crystals influences the efficiency of such transformation process as well as the morphology of resulted products. While the most reduced tungsten oxide (W18 O49 ) transforms to WS2 nanotubes, only slightly less reduces W5 O14 nanowires have been transformed to WS2 nanobuds [91]. Degree of reduction in transition metal substoichiometric oxides is very sensitive on local atmosphere. The process of sulphurization has to be considered as a complex and dynamical way of producing inorganic nanotubes, but simultaneously very challenging for a rich family of transition metal dichalcogenide nanotubes.

11.4 Morphology of Single Nanotubes and Hybrid Nanostructures Inorganic NTs exist in different states of crystallinity. Relating to a standard classification of crystals with unit cell repeating in three perpendicular directions of Euclidean space, nanotubes can be described as a semi-single crystal lattice with translational periodicity along two straight directions, while the trajectory of the third translation is curved. The term of semi-single crystallinity can be valid for nonhelical or mono-helical NTs with a low density of defects, while polycrystallinity appears either in the structure of the nanotube wall, composed of small thin crystal flakes, or in the radial direction as multi-helicity. Many of the inorganic NTs prepared by the decomposition process appear as an assembly of nanocrystallites forming the nanotube wall (e.g. HfS2 [20], NbS2 [92]). The crystallinity can be improved by additional annealing of tubes, as for example, CdSe NTs [13], or by increased in situ temperature during the growth [92]. Although the defects are a kind of relaxation and stabilization of the real system, they increase the free energy with regard to the perfect structure. It is assumed, and experimentally evidenced, that the structures produced by gas phase synthesis are more likely to be at equilibrium and more perfect than those produced by diffusion transformations [49, 92, 93].

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The most accurately studied lattice structures of inorganic nanotubes were those of MoS2 and WS2 tubes. Two growth mechanisms have been observed [41]. Thin folded flakes can directly roll up and adopt the cylindrical shape. The folds of strongly undulated layered crystals at a micro level size can also serve as an origin of turbulent gas flow of transported molecules, which promotes a tube-like growth mode. Instability of weakly bonded molecular layers at plate-like crystal edges and at surface growth steps against bending causes the growth of very narrow nanotubes. Several tubes can nucleate by such a way at the same crystal edge, where they combine and continue in growth like a rope. The nanotube in a rope still grows in longitudinal direction, up to a few millimeters in length, while its radius is limited by co-grown nanotubes. The second kind of the nanotube nucleation sites are the helical extremities of external and inner spirally rolled-up molecular layer building the already growing tube [42]. They are subject of bending like surface steps or edges of flat crystals. The nanotubes in so created ropes are usually rolled around or inside the central tube. Figure 11.2a shows a pair of identical nanotubes, 12 nm in diameter, which are spirally rolled around a thicker nanotube of 45 nm in

Fig. 11.2 (a) A pair of WS2 nanotubes, four molecular layers in wall thickness, rolled around a central nanotube, 46 in diameter. (b) The WS2 nanorope composed of two mutually rolled-up nanotubes with diameters of 15 nm and a spiral period of 110 nm. The pair of nanotubes nucleated at the inner surface step of the nanotube, 1.2 μm in diameter. Figure originally published in Applied Physics Letters [42]

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diameter. The thicker nanotube with a step of helicity of 1.7 μm calculated from the corresponding electron diffraction pattern represents a central tube in this rope. Both smaller nanotubes with wall thickness of four molecular layers are wound round the central tube with the 1.8 μm period of winding. This agreement of both values in the range of accuracy supports the assumption that the growth of mutually rolled nanotube groups represents a special case of growth by syntactic coalescence, where the wound tubes follow the crystal structure of the supporting tube. In a case that several nanotubes nucleate at the same inner extremity, they are mutually rolled-up (Fig. 11.2b) [93]. The interlayer distance in nanotube walls was found extended by up to 3% relative to the plate-like crystals of the same compounds [41]. Only right-hand chirality was found using transmission electron diffraction [94]. The polytypic stacking of molecular layers in nanotubes with diameters above 2 μm (rhombohedral 3R stacking) was found to differ from that in nanotubes with diameters below 100 nm (hexagonal 2Hb stacking) [95]. The selected area diffraction on the microtube wall revealing the rhombohedral (3R) stacking, otherwise stable at elevated pressure above 4 GPa, provides indirect evidence of the presence of strain incorporated into the microtube wall. The intensity of the strain increases towards the tube axis, causing the contraction of interlayer distance and instability of the inner molecular layers at the place where the incorporated strain is relaxed with the creation of edge dislocations or stacking faults. In nanotubes with diameter below 200 nm, the strain is relaxed, stabilizing the hexagonal (2H) stacking. The incorporated strain has been confirmed by resonance Raman spectroscopy taken on single MoS2 and WS2 microtubes and nanotubes synthesized by chemical transport reaction [96]. The up-shift of Raman peaks compared to the bulk has been observed. The additional support to the structural reason for the peak shift is the fact that such a shift was not observed in the nanotubes produced by sulphurization process of tungsten oxides [97]. Recently it was found that MoS2 fullerene-like particles encapsulated in thin walled MoS2 nanotubes grow in the rhombohedral 3R stacking [98], while WS2 fullerene-like particles grown on the surface WS2 nanotubes forming nanobuds [91] appear in hexagonal 2Hb stacking. These observations reveal importance of local atmosphere, particularly a ratio between transition metal and sulfur on the stacking order of adjacent curved layers. Consequently, the rate of chemical reaction can change stoichiometry, defect concentration and crystal structure, in a confined geometry of chemical reactor even of a particular nanotube [92]. Diffusion of adatoms during the growth process on inner or outer surface is important especially in non-template growth from vapor phase. Incorporated strain in the nanotube walls is the largest in the most inner turns and increases with number of wrapping molecular layers. Beyond the stability conditions, the layers start to break to flakes promoting into the inner tube hole [93]. The diffusion at inner tube surface is hindered permanently if temperature for redistribution of material is not sufficient. Nanotubes prepared by decomposition of precursor crystals at sufficient temperature for evaporation of WO3–x .nH2 O hydrate (H2 O is a side product of the sulphurization process) reveal a strong exhaust of the vapor at open ends, which evidences a dense crystallinity of the tube wall, which limits penetration of gasses

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Fig. 11.3 Translocation of material: (a) An open WS2 nanotube produced by sulphurization of W5 O14 precursor nanowires. Material which was blown out of the nanotube, formed symmetrical platelet with edged parallel with MoS2 lattice directions. The only curved part outside of the tube is the nano-fold sustainably protected against termination by the gas flow from this nano-“chimney”. (b) A nucleation of MoS2 nanotube in a microfold of an undulating MoS2 crystal. The arrow marks a perforation of the crystal flake caused by preferential growth of nanotube with respect to a flat geometry. Material was translocated by diffusion through a contact area of the crystal flake with the growing nanotube. Figure originally published in Applied Physics Letters [41]

through the nanotube wall (Fig. 11.3a). The gas flow originates an appearance of open ended nanotubes, while redistribution of non-volatile components along the inner tube surface contributes to the closing process of the tubes. In a moment when the local gas flow of exhaust is stopped, the inside of a nanotube end represents a place with negative curvature, where vapor pressure is lowered with respect to sites with positive curvature according to the Kelvin equation and the remaining WO3–x molecules therein condensate and build the nanotube cap termination. Cylindrical geometry is stable in a relatively narrow range of thermodynamical conditions: temperature, gas flow, stoichiometry. There are some indications that nanotubes or fullerene-like particles grow at a balance of two possible states, but usually far away from equilibrium defined as minimum of total free energy. Therefore comparison with a theory is difficult especially if nanotubes of fullerenelike particles grow in a layer-by-layer mode [99]. MoS2 nanotubes, as an example, appear in a narrow range of conditions (temperature, partial pressures, gas flow),

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where amorphous MoS3 compound starts to slowly transform to nanocrystallites of MoS2 [100], or at small sulfur excess where two polytypes (hexagonal 2Hb and rhombohedral 3R) can coexist [42]. Small deviation from appropriate conditions already leads to a “normal” (i.e. non-curved) growth of a compound in accordance with their crystal structure. As example, material which was blown out of the nanotube from Fig. 11.3a, formed symmetrical platelet with edged parallel with MoS2 lattice directions. The only curved part outside of the tube is the nano-fold sustainably protected against termination by the gas flow. Conditions outside of the confined geometry of a nanotube were obviously preferential for the flat geometry. A preferential growth mode (plate-like or cylindrical one) depends on local conditions. The different example is a translocation of material, which previously already composed a plate-like crystal flake, to obviously energetically more attractive position contributing to the growth of adjacent nanotube (Fig. 11.3b). Diffusion of material to more stable stage, in this case from flat to cylindrical geometry, formed a hole in a platelet at the contact area of the platelet with the nanotube. The confined geometry, incorporated strain and the partial pressure of sulphur strongly influence the crystal structure of inorganic nanotubes and fullerene-like particles grown from vapor phase. It is possible to assume that also stacking in radial direction is not homogeneous, especially because stacking faults are common defects in cylindrical and spherical geometry. Nanotubes with radial dependent interlayer distances, which were found experimentally [101], have not yet been described theoretically. Material science sometimes dictates terms as “normal” or “unusual” in accordance with a period of a particular discovery. Knowing bulk, three-dimensional compounds with flat geometrical shapes for decades or centuries, we try to describe an existence of hollow nanotubes or fullerene-like particles with some peculiar reasons leading to these “unusual” features. It is possible that cylindrical [102] or spherical geometry of materials is an intrinsic property of some compounds at some dimension range. As an example, it was evidenced that WS2 fullerene-like particles grow spontaneously with diffusion process along longitudinal surface corrugations of W5 O14 precursor crystals [91]. In the early stage of growth the thin-walled buds round up on one side and narrow at the contact area, growing elongated in the direction of the supporting nanotube (Fig. 11.4a). These formations reveal that the material needed for growth is really provided by diffusion. The next stage is growth of faceted nanoparticles (Fig. 11.4b) with thicker walls, which are still narrowed at the contact area, so that further diffusion is still possible. In some cases a kind of secondary nucleation has been observed, i.e. some fullerenes grow on the surface of twinned fullerenes, where the diffusion paths are developing at the interface folds. In this stage the walls are thicker and the particles are more spherically shaped in nearly ball-like morphology (Fig. 11.4c). The fullerene-like particles can grow up to several hundreds nanometres, which exceeds the dimensions of those produced by template techniques from WOx nanoparticles. Next example of nanotubes grown by diffusion process are so-called “mama”tubes produced by decomposition and recrystallisation of Mo6 S2 I8 nanowires in the process of sulphurization at high (1,150 K) temperature (Fig. 11.5).

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Fig. 11.4 WS2 nanobuds: (a) an early stage of growth with typically elongated thin walled buds along the nanotube support, which serves as a reservoir of material. The nanotubes grow in the relaxed hexagonal 2Hb stacking (inset); (b) some faceted nanoparticles joined to the supported thin-walled nanotube with their V-shaped parts; (c) the final stage of growth with nearly spherical thick-walled fullerenes. Figure originally published in Nano Letters [91]

MoS2 nanotubes with crystalline walls of 10 nm encapsulated MoS2 fullerene-like particles, appears to originate from the following sequence of events: (a) formation of the MoS2 nanotube as a kind of envelope, by decomposition of the topmost layers of a Mo6 S2 I8 nanowire (it is possible that the transformation takes place through local appearance of other Mox Sy Iz phases with low iodine content, including different Chevrel phases), (b) subsequent decomposition of the inner Mo6 S2 I8 phase causing a large reduction of mass after complete removal of the released iodine, and (c) further sulphurization of the remaining internal material and formation of MoS2 fullerenes by diffusion of molecules along the inner nanotube surface.

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Fig. 11.5 Transmission electron micrographs of the final product: (a) a general view of the MoS2 nanotubes with encapsulated MoS2 fullerene-like nanoparticles, (b) single MoS2 fullerenes and their aggregates inside a thin-walled MoS2 nanotube, (c) an electron diffraction pattern taken on the particle A shown in (b), an overlap of electrons scattered by both walls of the tube (hexagonally arranged sharp peaks) and by the encapsulated nanoparticle (diffraction rings), and (d) a hollow MoS2 fullerene with a slightly deformed spherical shape situated inside MoS2 nanotube. Figure originally published in Advanced Materials [98]

Formation of only a few nanometers thick MoS2 envelope in the first stage of transformation together with nearly simultaneous creation of an empty inner space due to large loose of iodine enables an appearance of special conditions inside the nanowires. The diffusion is space limited to cylindrical caves, while the surface diffusion is made difficult particularly at the inner surface, where the first curved crystal flakes appear, which are not part of the tube wall but start to self-terminate. The nucleation of these flakes could be triggered by the defects in the nanotube walls. Subsequent sulphurization with a formation of cage structures inside tubes localizes the diffusion even more, until the transformation to MoS2 nanopods is complete. Due to very thin walls, which break under short ultra sound agitation, the fullerene-like particles can be released in a controled way. Similar hybrid structures can be predicted in other “cluster”-materials [103]. High porosity at subsequent easy manipulation of long nanowires raise expectations on applications as hydrogen storage, catalyst, as solar cells or as additive to polymers.

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Fig. 11.6 Chirality changes in a Au-WS2 nanotube as a function of its wall thickness. The tip reveals the transition from coaxial growth to the spiral growth mode. The detailed measurements show that the tube begins to narrow by termination of top molecular layers by steps of length of 2.2 nm, which still show coaxial growth mode. When the step length increases to 4.4 nm, the angle of chirality is ≈ 2◦ (a). The tip part close to the end narrows by steps of 7 nm in length with the corresponding angle of ≈ 4.5◦ (b). Figure originally published in Surface Review Letters [101]

The contraction of interlayer distances caused by internal strain incorporated in the tube wall influences the helicity of the nanotubes. Each winding of the molecular layer of thickness t, i.e. 0.6147 nm for MoS2 [104], enlarges the tube circumference by πt. Since this value is not an integer multiple of lattice parameter in the basal plane (0.316 nm), the molecular layers have to be strained and/or helical, assuming that a regular crystal lattice is formed at least in narrow strips parallel with the nanotube axis. Increasing strain intensity toward the nanotube central hole causes the co-existence of several chiralities in the same nanotube (Fig. 11.6). In thick-wall nanotubes the incorporated strain causes reduction of the interlayer distances, in some tubes even below the value typical of plate-like crystals. In such cases the longitudinal growth of the nanotubes is stopped, with the typical crater-tip terminations [105]. Complete suppression of helicity is typical of MoS2 and WS2 nanotubes alloyed with gold and silver [74]. The noble metal species built into the tube walls increase the interaction between molecular layers and cause a double-layer by double-layer growth mode. The interlayer distances are expanded by 5–6%, causing the change in tube morphology. The tube walls are composed of molecular layers grown in a form of coaxial cylinders. The concentration of intercalated noble metal is negligible in the central part of the tubes where the layer by layer growth mode prevails. These completely stable nanotubes represent new compounds otherwise unknown in a plane geometry. Inhomogeneous distribution of alloyed gold makes the tubes interesting for nanodevice applications. Contrary to noble metal alloyed nanotubes, the Nb-doped WS2 nanotubes did not show any extension of interlayer distance [106]. The niobium was found homogeneously distributed in the nanotube walls, most probably by replacing the W atoms. The 2Hb stacking order typical of WS2 is also preserved in Nb-alloyed nanotubes. The largest and “oldest” inorganic tube was found in natural MoS2 -molybdenite from quarries at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada. The tube, 0.5 mm-diameter by 6 mm long, is housed in the Canadian Museum of Nature as specimen No. 48756 [107] (Fig. 11.7). The largest synthetic MoS2 tube grown without using

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Fig. 11.7 A SEM micrograph of a natural molybdenite (MoS2 ) tube, 4 mm long and 0.5 mm in diameter. Photo taken by E. Vadas of a specimen in the Canadian Museum of Nature (#48756) found in a miarolitic cavity at the large quarry at Mont Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada [123]

a template was 11 μm in diameter and 2 mm in length [41]. Optimization of the growth process or use of nanosized templates enables the production of tubes with nanosized diameter. As an example, the change of stoichiometry from transition metal di-chalcogenide towards three-chalcogenides considerably reduces the average diameter of MoS2 and WS2 NTs. Nanotubes with diameters below 20 nm have been synthesized quite rarely. BN NTs with inner diameters from 1 to 3 nm and outer diameters from 6 to 8 nm were made by the arc-discharge process [4]; 15 nm diameter WS2 NTs were grown by sulphurization of WO3 [108]; NbS2 NTs with inner diameters in the range ∼4–15 nm were made by decomposition of NbS3 [21]; CdSe NTs with outer diameters in the range 15–20 nm have been made from cadmium oxide using surfactant assisted synthesis [12]. Titania nanotubes with diameters of about 8 nm have been produced by hydrothermal treatment of nano-size TiO2 powder in NaOH solution [109]. A long term discussion of their composition, balancing between the anatase and rutile phases of TiO2 , came to the conclusion that the titania nanotubes are actually H2 Ti3 O7 single sheets rolled up into cylindrical geometry [110, 111].

11.5 Mechanical Properties and Thermal Stability The mechanical properties of inorganic nanotubes are of great interest both for the sake of fundamental science and for their applications. Nonetheless, the mechanical properties of inorganic nanotubes have been investigated to a relatively small extent so far. Polarized resonance Raman measurements of individual multiwall WS2 nanotubes were recently described [112]. A strong Raman scattering signal was obtained when the light was polarized along the nanotube axis. Using a fit to a theoretical model, an estimate of the ratio of the perpendicular to parallel polarizabilities αXX /αZZ = 0.16 was obtained, value of which is comparable to that obtained for single-wall carbon nanotubes (0.09). Symmetry analysis of the Raman and infrared

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(IR) active modes of MoS2 single-wall nanotubes was also recently published [113]. The tubular structure is found to be characterized by two Raman active modes. A new high-energy breathing mode transition, which is characterized by the in-phase breathing of the sulfur shells and out of phase relative to the molybdenum atoms, was identified. Unfortunately, theory for multi-wall MoS2 or WS2 nanotubes is still missing. The mechanical properties of inorganic nanotubes have been reviewed in some details in recent years [114, 115]. BN nanotubes were shown to exhibit Young’s modulus almost as high as that of carbon nanotubes. The axial Young’s modulus of 1.22 ± 0.24 TPa was found from the thermal vibration amplitude of a cantilevered BN nanotube observed in a transmission electron microscope [116]. Free-standing, vertically aligned GaN nanotubes were exposed to uniaxial compression of 150 μm using a nanoindenter. The tubes were 500 and 300 nm in length, with an outer radius of 40 nm and an inner radius of 20 nm. The critical buckling strain was found around 7.4–19.0%, the experimentally obtained values of Young’s modulus for lengths of 500 and 300 nm were 483.9 and 223.4 GPa, respectively [117]. The mechanical properties of individual WS2 nanotubes have been investigated in detail using both experiment and theory [118, 119]. These studies and others show that despite their smaller Young’s modulus and larger specific weight compared to carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanotubes may find numerous applications in ultrahigh strength nanocomposites, mostly due to their high compression strength. As example, the Young’s modulus of the WS2 nanotubes exposed to buckling was estimated at 150–170 GPa, while tensile tests gave a value of 152 GPa. The combination of high tensile strength and ca. 14% elongation is a unique property for all the nanotubes, which were measured so far [120, 121]. Furthermore, the strength of the strongest nanotubes is about 11% of its Young’s modulus, corresponding approximately to the theoretical value of the strength of the material. This value is appreciably larger than typical high-strength engineering materials. These findings indicate that the WS2 nanotubes are remarkably free of critical defects. Furthermore, the stress-strain plots and the ab-initio calculations show that the nanotubes deformed elastically, almost until failure. This study shows that WS2 nanotubes like other nanotubes are both ultra-strong and elastic, distinguishing them from other known materials. The association of WS2 nanotubes shown in Fig. 11.8 was made by axial rotation of tweezers held the strand of nanotubes [122]. The nanotubes, even the smallest in the strand with diameter bellow 30 nm did not break asunder during this robust process. Their mechanical stability is explained by their chiral growth mode and with high lattice perfection, which render the transport of dislocations in radial direction needed for the break of material. Thermal stability of some inorganic nanotubes is also important. While MoS2 and WS2 nanotubes grow at relatively high temperature (1,010 K) in iodine and sulfur rich local atmosphere, their annealing in air results to complete oxidation at 570 K. In-situ annealing in a high vacuum inside transmission electron microscope (10–3 Pa) by irradiation with electron beam enables the observation of progressive decomposition of the nanotubes [122]. The WS2 nanotube, 35 nm in diameter, 5 nm in wall thickness and composed of 8 molecular layers, was completely stable

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Fig. 11.8 An artificial association of WS2 nanotubes reveals the strong stability against tensile forces. Figure originally published in Current Opinion in Solid State and Material Science [122]

Fig. 11.9 Irradiation of the WS2 nanotube, 35 nm in diameter, by electron beam in transmission electron microscope. Density of electrons and duration of irradiation: (a) 7 A/cm2 – structure was stable; (b) 50 A/cm2 – 2 min; (c) 180 A/cm2 – 2 min. Figure originally published in Current Opinion in Solid State and Material Science [122]

during irradiation with a dose 7 A/cm2 (Fig. 11.9a). Six times larger dose (50 A/cm2 ) applied for two minutes started the decomposition process of molecular layers (Fig. 11.9b). The destruction of the nanotube takes place layer by layer from outside toward the inner layers. Some outer molecular layers are completely removed, what indicates indirectly the temperature above 1,120 K, where the WO3 becomes volatile (figure inset). The increased electron dose up to 180 A/cm2 for additional 2 min destroyed cylindrical geometry; the diameter shrunk for nearly

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Fig. 11.10 The transmission electron diffraction pattern of electrons scattered by the WS2 nanotube: (a) at low dose of electrons-7 A/cm2 ; (b) at 180 A/cm2 . Diffraction peaks belonged to WS2 are encircled, while WO3 spots are marked by arrows. Figure originally published in Current Opinion in Solid State and Material Science [122]

50% and the tube became partially oxidized (Fig. 11.9c). The corresponding electron diffraction (Fig. 11.10) is a superposition of electrons scattered by both walls of the tube oriented perpendicular to the electron beam and by side parts of the wall oriented parallel with the beam. The tube wall was composed of chirally grown molecular layers with 13◦ chiral angle and non-chiral molecular layers (Fig. 11.10a). After the irradiation with the maximal dose the diffraction spots belonged to scattering by the side (00l) WS2 planes are much weaker than before the irradiation revealing the destruction of cylindrical geometry. In addition, the position of the {100} spots are turned for 10◦ indicating the twisting of the nanotube during the annealing (Fig. 11.10b). The screw deformation is explained by relaxation of internal strain incorporated in the chirally grown nanotube wall. The relatively high thermal stability of inorganic nanotubes in no oxidizing atmosphere is concluded from the observation that only 50 nm away from the irradiation spot the nanotube was nearly non-attacked (Fig. 11.9c – upper part of the image). The origin of the decomposition was obviously not only the enhanced temperature, but also the irradiation damages of the lattice by 200 keV electrons, which trigger the local decomposition of the wall.

11.6 Conclusions Inorganic nanotubes are an important field of new nanomaterials, which expands generic structure of inorganic layered two-dimensional compounds. Although some geometrical similarities with carbon nanotubes, inorganic nanotubes distinguish themselves by important peculiarities, from the growth mechanisms to the physical and chemical properties attractive for possible applications. Study of these novel nanostructures has led to the observation of a number of interesting properties offering numerous potential applications as biosensors, drug delivery, safe

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containers, nanoreactors, strengthening fibres as well as in tribology, as high-energydensity batteries, sensors, in photoconversion of solar energy and in nanoelectronics. Numerous growth techniques are used for the synthesis of transition metal dichalcogenide inorganic NTs. After the first enthusiasm on the successful synthesis of cylindrical crystals from new compound, the additional demands appear with respect to their properties. The control of their dimensions is desired and crucial for some applications. The second important demand is their structural perfection, especially for their mechanical and electric properties significant in construction of nanodevices. Both demands are rarely satisfied simultaneously in inorganic nanotubes as well as in carbon nanotubes. There is still plenty of room for technological and basic phenomenological research of inorganic nanotubes.

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Chapter 12

Synthesis Approaches of Inorganic Nanotubes Mihaela Daub and Kornelius Nielsch

Abstract The fabrication and characterisation of nanotubes and nanotubes with multifunctional properties has attracted a lot of interest due to their potential applications ranging from diagnostics of cancer cells to nanoelectronics. In contrast to a conventional spherical nanoparticle, several physical or chemical properties can be implemented within a nanowire or nanotube, like optical information, magnetical properties, and chemical functionalisation of certain surface areas. This chapter reviews the development of internationally leading research groups of multifunctional nanowire and nanotubes based on inorganic materials for applications in the fields of biotechnology, magnetic media, sensors, thermoelectric materials and nanoelectronics.

12.1 Introduction The first report on carbon nanotubes in 1991 by S. Iijima [1], followed in 1992 by the first study on inorganic (WS2 ) nanotubes by R. Tenne [2], initiated intense experimental and theoretical research on this new type of nanostructures. In recent years, the number of reports on synthesis of different types of inorganic nanotubes has increased monthly, due to the importance of this new and fast developing research area of nanotechnology. The particular physical and chemical properties of inorganic nanotubes indicate promising applications in nanoscale devices, sensors, drug delivery or energy conversion. One-dimensional materials play an important role in understanding, for instance, the influence of dimensionality on optical, mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties. The cylindrical geometry of the nanotubes leads to low mass density, high porosity and a large surface to weight ratio, properties which are especially relevant in applications such as gas sensors, catalysis, solidstate batteries and fuel cell electrodes. Six categories of inorganic nanotubes have been synthesized until now [5]: – transition metal chalcogenide nanotubes: MoS2 , MoSe2 , WS2 , WSe2 , NbS2 , NbSe2 , TaS2 , ZrS2 , HfS2 , TiS2 , ZnS, NiS, CdSe, CdS; K. Nielsch (B) Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, 06120 Halle, Germany; Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, 20355 Hamburg, Germany e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] O. Hayden, K. Nielsch (eds.), Molecular- and Nano-Tubes, C Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9443-1_12,

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– oxide nanotubes: TiO2 , NiO, ZnO, GaO/ZnO, VOx , W18 O49 , V2 O5 , Al2 O3 , Fe3 O4 , In2 O3 , Ga2 O3 , BaTiO3 , PbTiO3 , SiO2 , MoO3 , RuO2 , MgO, rare earth oxides: (Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) oxide; – transition metal halogenide nanotubes: NiCl2 ; – mixed-phase and metal-doped nanotubes: PbNbn S2n+1 , Mo1-x WS2 , Wx Moy Cz Sz , Nb-WS2 , WS2 -carbon nanotubes, NbS2 -carbon nanotubes, Au-WS2 , Ag-MoS2 , Cu5.5 FeS6.5 ; – boron- and silicon-based nanotubes: BN, BCN, Si; – metal nanotubes: Au, Co, Fe, CoFe, FePt, Cu, Ni, Pb, Te, Bi, Se, Pt, Ru. The latest review on inorganic nanotubes, which include an overview on their properties and theoretical calculations, was published in 2006 by R. Tenne [3, 4]. A review on the synthesis, morphology and applications of inorganic nanotubes was done by Remskar [5] in 2004. Other reviews focusing on the synthesis of inorganic nanotubes were published by Pokropivny [6], Ivanovskii [7], Rao and Nath [8] and Xia et al. [9]. This chapter will provide a brief overview over the main methods used for the synthesis of inorganic nanotubes, with a focus on the newest methods developed in the last few years, such as electrodeposition and atomic layer deposition in template systems.

12.2 Synthesis Methods BN nanotubes were first synthesized in 1995 by arc discharge by Chopra et al. [10], followed by Loiseau et al. [11]. A high temperature plasma jet method was later proposed by Shimizu et al. [12] for the synthesis of BN nanotubes and coexisting amorphous phases. Cumings et al. [13] used a high-yield plasma-arc method to produce macroscopic amounts of pure BN nanotubes. Mixed BN-C nanotubes by Suenaga et al. [14] and Goldberg et al. [15] and Bx Cy Nz nanotubes were also fabricated by using this method by Weng-Sieh et al. [16]. The method of laser ablation was used by Goldberg et al. [17, 18] to fabricate inclusion-free BN nanotubes, as well as by Yu et al. [19] for the synthesis of BN single-walled nanotubes. Coaxial multi-element nanocables of SiC-SiO2 -BN-C, consisting of SiC nanowires, an amorphous intermediate layer of SiO2 and an outer layer of BN-C were produced by Zhang et al. [20] by the same method. Chemical substitution reactions were used by Han et al. [21] for the synthesis of multi-walled B-C-N nanotubes. One of the earliest techniques for producing inorganic nanotubes of layered metal dichalcogenide (MX2 ) compounds is the vapour chemical transport method: a powder of ME2 is placed on the hot side of an evacuated quartz ampoule, in the presence of a transport agent (bromine or iodine). By maintaining a temperature gradient of 20–50◦ C, nanotubes can grow on the cold side of the ampoule. By this method, Remskar et al. fabricated nanotubes of WS2 [22, 23], MoS2 [24, 25] (Fig. 12.1) and MoS2-x Iy [26].

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Fig. 12.1 Scanning electron and electron transmission images on different length scales of MoS2 nanotubes. (a) Bundles appear to self-assemble into various different microscopic structures. (b) The bundles end in sharp points. (c) A split tip of a bundle terminating in strands 4 nm wide. (d) Expanded electron transmission view of a strand composed of only a few individual nanotubes. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [25])

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Another method for producing inorganic nanotubes is the sol-gel technique. By dissolving a metal organic compound together with a template-forming species in alcohol, a template nanotube structure is created. The addition of small amounts of water leads to a slow hydrolysis of the metal organic compound and to the formation of the metal-oxide sol, which can transform into a gel by tuning the pH. Thermal treatment and hydrogen reduction are further leading to the formation of nanotubes in the template. Cheng et al. [27] used the sol-gel chemistry and porous alumina templating to fabricate In2 O3 and Ga2 O3 nanotubes, which is shown in Fig. 12.2. Fe, Ni, Pb and CoFe nanotubes were also prepared by Hua et al. [28] by the sol-gel method, followed by hydrogen reduction of the nanotubes in the anodic alumina template. Other examples are vanadium oxide nanotubes by Krumeich et al. [29], BaTiO3 and PbTiO3 nanotubes by Hernandez et al. [30], silica nanotubes by Nakamura et al. [31], Mitchell et al. [32] and Gasparac et al. [33], TiO2 nanotubes by Zhang et al. [34], ZrO2 nanotubes by Bao et al. [35] and iron oxide nanotubes by Suber et al. [36].

Fig. 12.2 SEM images of In2 O3 and Ga2 O3 nanotubes prepared by the sol-gel method; a 1 μm bar is indicated. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [27])

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Fig. 12.3 (a) Schematic diagram of the electroless plating procedure; (b) Transmission electron micrograph showing a cross section of a Au-nanotubule membrane. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [37])

In 1995, Nishizawa et al. [37] presented a general method for preparing nanotubes, which they named template synthesis (Fig. 12.3), consisting in the deposition of the desired material within the cylindrical pores of a nanoporous membrane. They used commercially available polycarbonate filtration membranes with pores of 30 nm in diameter as templates for the deposition of Au nanotubes. Gold was electroless deposited onto the pore walls, by applying first a catalyst to the surface of the membrane and then immersing the membrane into an electroless plating bath which containes a AuI species and a chemical reducing agent. The thickness of the deposited Au layer was controlled by varying the deposition time. At longer plating times, membranes containing nanowires were obtained [37, 38]. By using the same method, Demoustier-Champagne et al. [39] obtained Au and Ag nanotubes inside the pores of polycarbonate membranes with mean pore size in the range of 100–1,000 nm and low pore size distribution [4]. Mertig et al. [40] fabricated nanotubes by electroless metal film deposition onto tubular biomolecular templates. They used microtubules, in vitro assembled protein filaments with a 25 nm outer diameter and a length of several micrometers, for the electroless deposition of magnetic nanotubes (Ni, Co), shown in Fig. 12.4. The metal deposition was initiated by direct absorption of noble metal catalysts (Pd, Pt) on the protein surface, under neutral pH and by using dimethylamine-borane as reducing agent of nickel and cobalt salts. Under physiological conditions, the morphology of the template was completely preserved. Co, Ni and Cu nanotubes were also prepared by Wang et al. [41] by electroless deposition, using porous anodic aluminium oxide (AAO) as templates (Fig. 12.5).

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Fig. 12.4 SEM micrograph of nickel electroless plated microtubules. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [40])

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Fig. 12.5 (A) Scheme for the synthesis of metal nanotube arrays within the Al2 O3 porous template. The membrane is (a) modified with silane, (b) polished to remove the silane layer on the surface, (c) sensitized with Sn2+ and then activated with Pd2+ , resulting in the deposition of Pd nanoparticles on the pore walls and (d) immersed in the metal plating solution to form metal nanotube arrays. (B) (a) Top view and (b) side view SEM images of Co nanotube arrays. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [41])

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Prior to the deposition, the alumina membrane was modified with silane. The electroless deposition was carried out in an aqueous solution, via the reaction of an oxidizer and a reductant in an electrolyte solution. The obtained nanotubes had a well-defined outer diameters determined by the size of the alumina pores, while the inner diameter can be tailored by adjusting the deposition time. The length of the nanotubes was determined by the thickness of the template. Electrochemical deposition is a versatile method for obtaining metallic or semiconducting nanotubes, which combines low processing costs with ambient conditions. The structural properties of electrodeposited nanotubes are influenced by the electrodeposition parameters, which makes possible their fabrication with a high reproducibility and in a controlled manner in terms of their crystallographic properties. Au nanotubes with a length of 2 μm were first obtained by Brumlik et al. [42, 43] using an alumina membrane coated with an organocyanide as molecular anchor to bind the electrochemically deposited Au to the inner walls of the template. Bao et al. [44] fabricated 35 μm long Ni nanotubes by electrodeposition in the pores of alumina membranes that were pretreated with an organoamine as a pore-wall modifying agent. The Ni nanotubes had an average outer diameter of 160 nm ± 20 nm and polycrystalline structure. In a further report, Bao et al. reported the fabrication of Co nanotubes in alumina membranes using the same organoamine as pore-wall modifying agent [45]. TiO2 nanotubes were obtained by P. Hoyer [46] using electrochemical deposition, anodic alumina membranes as templates and a polymer (PMMA) negatype structure as mold. Corresponding micrographs are shown in Fig. 12.6. The titanium

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Fig. 12.6 (a) Schematic view of a replication process using electrochemical deposition. (b) SEM image of the cross-section of the as-prepared film of titania with the upper part removed. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [46])

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dioxide was electrochemically deposited onto the polymer mold and, after the dissolution of the polymer matrix, nanotubes with both ends opened were obtained. The TiO2 nanotubes had an outer diameter between 140 and 180 nm and an inner diameter of 70–100 nm. The as-deposited nanotubes were amorphous, but polycrystalline anatase samples of the same structure were obtained after heat treatment. Tourillon et al. [47] obtained Co and Fe nanotubes by pulsed electrochemical deposition in commercially available track-etched polycarbonate membranes 6 μm thick and with a nominal pore diameter of 30 nm (Fig. 12.7). A thin Au layer was first evaporated on the bottom side of the membranes and was used as the working electrode in a standard three-electrode electrochemical cell together with a saturated calomel reference electrode and a Pt grid. The pulsed electrodeposition was performed at room temperature with an aqueous solution of 0.1 M CoSO4 and 0.1 M H3 BO3 . The Co and Fe nanotubes had an outer diameter of 30 nm ± 20%, length of 6 μm and a wall thickness of 1–2 nm. In a further report by the same group [48], the Fe oxide nanotubes obtained by pulsed electrodeposition were proven to be built up of Fe3 O4 nanocrystals with a common crystallographic axis, creating a pseudomonocrystalline wall in the nanotubes. Other examples of inorganic nanotubes obtained by using anodic aluminium oxide or polycarbonate membranes as templates and electrochemical deposition are: Ni(OH)2 and Fe-doped Ni(OH)2 nanotubes, by Chou et al. [49], Ni nanotubes by Pi et al. [50], CoNiCu and Cu nanotubes by Davis et al. [51, 52], Ni nanotubes by Wu et al. [53] and Xue et al. [54], Pt nanotubes by Mu et al. [55] and Yoo et al. [56]. Multisegmented nanotubes were fabricated by Lee et al. [57] using a multi-step approach: metallic nanoparticles (Ag) were first immobilized on the pore walls of an anodic alumina membrane, then a thin Au layer was sputtered on one side of the membrane to serve as working electrode. Finally, the electrodeposition of Au was performed, resulting in the formation of Au nanotubes with surfaces decorated with

Fig. 12.7 TEM image of iron nanotubes obtained by pulsed electrochemical deposition. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [47])

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Ag nanoparticles. The preferential deposition of the metal along the wall surfaces of the nanopores allowed the preparation of multisegmented metallic nanotubes with a bimetallic stacking configuration: Au/Ni/Au/ Multilayered CoNiFe/Cu nanotubes were obtained by Davis et al. [52] under pulsed potential conditions from a single bath electrolyte, using commercially available nanoporous membranes as templates. Chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is another method for obtaining inorganic nanotubes, which was developed mainly in the last years. Single-crystalline gallium nitride nanotubes with diameters of 30–200 nm and wall thicknesses of 5–50 nm were obtained in ZnO nanowires templates by Goldberger et al. [58]. Micrographs of the nanostructures are shown in Fig. 12.8. Two micrographs of these structures are displayed in Fig. 12.9. The ZnO nanowire arrays were placed inside a reaction tube for GaN chemical vapour deposition. Trimethylgallium and ammonia were used as precursors and argon or nitrogen as carrier gas. The ZnO nanowires were removed after the GaN deposition, by heating the samples at 600◦ C in 10% H2 . Si nanotubes were also fabricated by Sha et al. [59] with a similar method. Metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) was used for obtaining nickel oxide nanotubes by Malandrino et al. [60] and GaN nanotubes by Jung et al. [61].

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Fig. 12.8 (a) Procedure for the preparation of multisegmented metal nanotubes and the proposed mechanism for metal nanotube growth; (b) SEM images of multisegmented metal nanotubes with a stacking configuration of Au-Ni-Au-Ni-Au along the tube axis. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [57])

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Fig. 12.9 Arrays of ZnO nanowires and GaN nanotubes. Shown are SEM images of the ZnO nanowire template arrays (a) and the resulting GaN nanotube array (b). Inset in (a) shows cross-sections of the ZnO nanowires. Inset in (b) shows the fractured interface between the GaN nanotubes and the substrate. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [58])

Atomic layer deposition or atomic layer epitaxy (ALD or ALE) is a very new and promising method for growing very uniform nanostructures with a precise control of deposition thickness and characteristics. ALD is a self-limiting thin film growth process during which the substrate surface is alternatively exposed to precursors. The deposition process consists in alternating chemisorption of precursors, surface reaction and desorption of the gaseous side-products. The adsorption of each precursor is self-limiting, up to a full monolayer can be deposited per operational cycle. The important advantage of ALD is that the film thickness is dependent not on the kinetics of the reactions but only on the number of reaction cycles. Atomic layer deposition offers other several practical advantages in comparison to other deposition methods, including accurate and simple thickness control, large area and large batch capability, good conformability and reproducibility, straight-forward doping and scale-up, as well as the possibility to produce sharp and precisely defined interfaces. By atomic layer deposition on porous anodic alumina or silicon as templates, inorganic nanotubes can be obtained. One of the first reports explaining the process of ALD on porous substrates (alumina or silica) was published in 1994 by E.-L. Lakomaa [62].

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Uniform arrays of TiO2 nanotubes were fabricated by Sander et al. [63] using TiCl4 and H2 O as ALD precursors and nanoporous alumina templates on a silicon substrate. After the deposition of TiO2 , the layer deposited on the top of the template was removed by gentle mechanical polish and the alumina was etched away to reveal arrays of titania nanotubes on the substrate. The process allowed the fabrication of nanotubes with well-defined and easy-to-tailor diameter and wall thickness. Shin et al. [64] used commercially available polycarbonate membranes as templates for the deposition of TiO2 and ZrO2 nanotubes. Kemell et al. [65] fabricated TiO2 nanotubes by depositing directly into commercially available alumina membranes or on electrodeposited Ni nanowires. Ni and Co nanotubes were obtained by Daub et al. [66] in alumina membranes, using nickelocene, cobaltocene and water or ozone as precursors (Fig. 12.10). The fabrication process consisted in depositing first the nickel oxide and then further exposing the substrate during the same ALD cycle to hydrogen, or performing a heat treatment under Ar/H2 atmosphere at the end of the deposition process. The tubes obtained by the second method, using ozone as a second ALD precursor,

Fig. 12.10 TiO2 /Ni/TiO2 nanotubes obtained by atomic layer deposition inside the pores of alumina templates. (a) The tubes were removed from the template; (b) The multilayer nanotubes are embedded in the alumina membrane, the ferromagnetic layer on top being removed by ion milling. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [66])

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presented a fine granular crystal structure, low surface roughness and significantly improved magnetic properties. Furthermore Bachmanne et al. [67] has recently synthesized Fe3 O4 nanotubes based on low-temperature atomic layer deposition and have studied in detail the magnetic properties as function of the wall thickness. Another possibility to obtain inorganic nanotubes by ALD is the use of carbon nanotubes as templates. Herrmann et al. [68] functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes by covering them with Al2 O3 . They also obtained multilayered coatings consisting of alternating layers of Al2 O3 and W deposited on multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The functionalization of single-walled carbon nanotubes was reported by Farmer et al. [69]. Ruthenium oxide nanotubes were successfully fabricated by Min et al. [70] using carbon nanotube arrays as removable templates. Carbon nanotubes were first grown inside porous anodic alumina membranes by catalytically pyrolyzing acetylene in nitrogen carrier gas. Atomic layer deposition with Ru(Et)3 and oxygen resulted in a metallic Ru thin film on the carbon nanotubes. During the process of removing of

Fig. 12.11 Transformation of core-shell nanowires to nanotubes by means of the Kirkendall effect. (a) TEM image of an example ZnO-Al2 O3 core-shell nanowire. (b) SEM image and (c)–(e) TEM images of ZnAl2 O4 spinel nanotubes. Owing to the hollow interiors, the central part of the nanotubes becomes more transparent to the electron beam than the outer part, in contrast to the structure before annealing. (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [71])

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the carbon nanotube template by ashing, the Ru tubes were oxidized and ruthenium oxide nanotube arrays were subsequently obtained. Fan et al. [71] reported a new method for obtaining monocrystalline spinel nanotubes by using the Kirkendall effect (Fig. 12.11). Here, ZnO nanowires were conformally coated by ALD with Al2 O3 , using trimethylaluminium and water at 200◦ C. An interfacial solid-state reaction at an elevated annealing temperature of 700◦ C consumed the ZnO core, producing hollow spinel ZnAlO4 nanotubes with a diameter of 40 nm and wall thickness of 10 nm. Tobacco mosaic viruses were used by Knez et al. [72] as templates for the atomic layer deposition of TiO2 and Al2 O3 . The smallest nanotubes realized so far are based on metal oxides and templated by the inner nanochannel of the Tobacco mosaic viruses (TMV) virus, which are presented in Fig. 12.12. They obtained by this method TiO2 and Al2 O3 nanotubes with an outer diameter of 4 nm and an inner diameter of 1.5 nm or less.

Fig. 12.12 Upper images: TEM image of untreated TMV. (c) TEM image of TMV treated with TiO2 by ALD. The coverage of viruses with TiO2 reaches 100%. (d) After ultrasonication the TiO2 is partially removed from the outer surface and mainly the inner channel of the TMV remains covered with TiO2 . (Reproduced with permission from Ref. [72])

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12.3 Concluding Remarks This chapter presented an overview on the main methods for synthesizing inorganic nanotubes, with a focus on the most recent and promising methods developed in the recent years, such as electrodeposition and atomic layer deposition, which allows a precise tailoring of the layer thickness and a very conform and uniform deposition characteristics. Control over the dimensions and properties of nanotubes, is an important feature of the fabricating process and an essential step for the potential technological applications.

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Chapter 13

Macroporous Silicon Andreas Langner, Frank Müller, and Ulrich Gösele

Abstract Macroporous silicon is a material system ideally suited for the fabrication of tubular structures on the micrometer size scale. With nanometer precision on an arbitrarily sized area, millions to billions of identically shaped objects can be produced. In a modified way it is even possible to alter the shape of the structures in situ, i.e. to grow three-dimensionally modulated structures. The fabrication of macroporous silicon is based on a classical top down approach. Starting from bulk material, regular pore structures are formed in an electrochemical etching process. The underlying fabrication method is a parallel process which makes the production of macroporous silicon scalable to large areas and therefore economically attractive. In this review an introduction is given to the method of etching macroporous silicon while the growth of straight and modulated pores is explained in more detail. In conjunction with suitable post treatment steps a variety of applications for macroporous silicon has been realized from which a selection will be presented here. The condemned live longer. And so does silicon. It is yet the material par excellence for making our modern live a complex one. It was often heard that the time has come for a new age beyond silicon. But meanwhile, silicon has learned numerous tricks, e.g. superconductivity [1, 2], spin transport [3], and even active emission of photons [4–7] and their modulation [8] is feasible. In the course of time and with all the efforts put in the field of silicon also a porous form of silicon was fabricated and investigated thoroughly. In the scope of this book we are interested in a material system that can provide us with regularly shaped and well controlled arrays of pores. The advantage of having a porous material based on silicon is obvious: All the knowledge and techniques established in silicon industry can be applied to this material system as well. Especially the ease of growing a native oxide on silicon was one key to make silicon the most popular material nowadays. In addition, silicon has the advantage to be nontoxic and biocompatible. Macroporous silicon is a material system ideally suited for tubular structures on the micrometer size scale. With nanometer precision on an arbitrary area, millions to billions of identically shaped objects can be produced. In a modified way it is even Ulrich Gösele (Deceased) A. Langner (B) Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics, D-06120 Halle, Germany e-mail: [email protected]


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possible to alter the shape of the structures in situ, i.e. to grow three-dimensionally modulated structures. The fabrication of macroporous silicon is based on a classical top down approach. Starting with a bulk material, regular pore structures will be produced just by removing part of the material in an electrochemical etching process. Important to mention at this point is the fact that the underlying fabrication method is a parallel process. Thus macroporous silicon is scalable to large areas and therefore economically attractive. The chapter is divided into two parts. At first, we give an introduction to the method of etching macroporous silicon. The growth of straight and modulated pores will be considered in detail, achievable material parameters are discussed, and different methods are presented suitable for modifying the obtained structures for certain applications. Secondly, we will concentrate on a selection of applications realized with macroporous silicon.

13.1 Introduction The formation of porous silicon in an anodization setup is known since the 1950s from the pioneering work by Uhlir and Turner at Bell Labs [9, 10]. But it took more than 30 years when Lehmann and Föll invented an electrochemical etching process to produce arrays of ordered macropores in silicon [11]. Other groups followed, and this new topic was established as an important field in material science. The etching of silicon and therefore the “growth” of pores into silicon covers several orders of magnitude. According to the IUPAC nomenclature for porous materials [12], structures with a pore width below two nanometers are called microporous. Their formation needs to be described quantum mechanically [13]. The mesoporous structures range from 2 to 50 nm. Bigger pores are referred as macropores. The obtained pore morphology is dependent on the properties of the silicon (doping, resistivity, and orientation), the composition of the electrolyte (organic, anorganic, and concentration), and external parameters such as temperature, voltage and illumination. Beside numerous review articles that can be found in literature (e.g. [14, 15]), a book written by V. Lehmann is highly recommended for a more detailed study of the electrochemistry of silicon [16]. Among the different ways of fabricating porous silicon, macroporous structures etched in an aqueous solution of hydrofluoric acid (HF) allow to design the sample parameters specifically. This method has developed to a well understood and viable tool for device and template fabrication. One significant advantage is the possibility to produce ordered pore arrays with defined diameters and lengths. The pore diameters can be adjusted between a few hundred nanometers and several micrometers. Remarkably is the potential to etch pores of a few hundred micrometers in depth. Thus aspect ratios of 500:1 and even more can be obtained without loosing the ordering and the defined shape of the pores. The underlying mechanisms of the macropore formation in silicon will be discussed in more detail in the following.

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13.2 Etching of Macroporous Silicon 13.2.1 Fundamentals The basic ingredients for the fabrication of macroporous silicon can be defined as follows: Most obviously silicon is needed. For reasons that will be discussed later on, n-type doped silicon with an adapted resistivity is preferred. The wafers must be grown in a float-zone process. This ensures a charge carrier life time sufficiently long to realize diffusion lengths in the order of the wafer thickness. In addition, this raw material should receive a lithographically defined and etched prepatterning. Moreover, a highly doped backside contact is needed. Low concentrated HF with some surfactant added is used in the chemical process. Furthermore, an anodization setup is needed that provides control over voltage and backside illumination of the substrate. 13.2.1.1 Space Charge Region Starting with the bulk material, structures are designed by dissolving part of the silicon – a typical top-down approach. In Fig. 13.1a a sketch of an anodization setup is shown. The silicon wafer is clamped between two parts of a PVC cell (inert to low concentrated HF). One side (hereinafter called front side) of the wafer is exposed to the HF. Such an intersection between a moderately doped semiconductor and an ionic liquid resembles a behavior similar to a Schottky contact. The electrochemical potential between both materials will adjust by forming a Helmholtz double layer. In the electrolyte, the charge carriers are mobile and can therefore screen the electric field within a few nanometers. In the semiconductor, free charge carriers can only be generated from the fixed donor-atoms. The density of these dopants is much lower

Fig. 13.1 (a) Sketch of an electrochemical etching setup for the growth of macroporous silicon. (b) An enlarged view of the situation at the bottom of the pores: The SCR extends to the dotted line in the silicon, so this region is depleted and the minority charge carriers are focused to the pore tips

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than the charge carrier density in the electrolyte. Consequently, the electric field evolves inside the silicon and forms a space charge region (SCR) (Fig. 13.1b). For the case of a planar interface, the width of this region WSCR can be estimated to WSCR =

2εε0 U eND

(13.1)

where ε is the dielectric constant of silicon, ε0 the permittivity of the free space, e the elementary charge and ND the density of dopants. The voltage U is the difference between the built-in potential of the silicon-HF contact and the external applied voltage. There is no reference electrode in this setup because the voltage drop over the SCR is significantly larger than the electrochemical potential. Furthermore, the chemical reaction is limited by the charge carriers generated due to the backside illumination. Although Eq. (13.1) is only valid for a one-dimensional geometry, it is a good approximation for the width of the SCR for pores within the micrometer range. For example, a moderate doping density of 1015 cm–3 and a voltage of 2 V would result in a width of the SCR of 1.6 μm. 13.2.1.2 Electrochemistry In Fig. 13.2 the current-voltage profile of an n-type silicon-electrolyte junction is depicted. The forward-biased regime (negative potential) is characterized by a charge carrier flow of majority charge carriers (electrons) from the silicon to the electrolyte. This case is of minor interest because it only leads to the reduction of H+ -ions and hence hydrogen is produced in the electrolyte. In the anodic regime where the voltage is reversed, two different processes can be distinguished. The border between these two regions is defined by the critical current

Fig. 13.2 Schematics of the I–V curve of an illuminated reverse-biased Si-HF contact. The critical current density JPS marks the transition from divalent to tetravalent dissolution. The limitation of the overall current density to values below JPS by illumination from the backside adjusts the diameter of the pores

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density JPS . It was found experimentally that JPS is dependent on HF concentration and temperature [17]. For current densities below JPS divalent dissolution of silicon takes place: 2− + − Si + 4HF− 2 + h → SiF6 + 2HF + H2 + e

(13.2)

Thereby, two charges per dissolved silicon atom can be measured in the electric circuit: One defect electron (h+ ), moving from the silicon to the electrolyte and one electron (e− ), moving in the opposite direction through the interface. Current densities exceeding the critical value JPS will involve four minority charge carriers. A tetravalent dissolution occurs: Si + 2H2 O + 4h+ → SiO2 + 4H+

(13.3)

The formed silicon dioxide is instantaneously removed by the HF from the electrolyte. Both, the divalent and the tetravalent reaction lead to a dissolution of silicon. But only the first reaction (Eq. 13.2) etches pores into silicon because the divalent dissolution shows a strong dependence on the crystal orientation. The model presented here is sufficient to describe the etching process and the obtained results. Nevertheless, this continuum-like theory is based on macroscopical findings. A detailed description on an intrinsic time and length scale is given by the current-burst model. It can be found for instance in the review by Föll et al. [14]. 13.2.1.3 Etching Speed HF concentration and temperature are not only important for the magnitude of JPS . They also determine the etching speed of the whole process. Increasing both quantities enhances the etching speed. However, it has turned out that moderate values will give the best results. For example, an etching speed of nearly 1 μm/min is obtained for an acid concentration of 5% and an electrolyte temperature of 10◦ C. 13.2.1.4 Porosity As mentioned before, n-type doped silicon is used for this process. Therefore, the defect electrons which are needed in the dissolution process (Eqs. 2 and 3) are the minority charge carriers. Generated by, for example, backside illumination with an LED-array, the minority charge carriers are obtained from electron-hole pairs. Due to the applied voltage, the holes will diffuse towards the front side and take part in the dissolution of silicon. For sufficiently high current densities the dissolution reaction is limited by the chemistry. This situation is represented by the curve in Fig. 13.2. Lower

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currents can be adjusted by a decreased backside illumination intensity. Experiments show that the etching speed is unaffected by an altered current density. With less charge carriers available, however, the etched area decreases and therefore also the porosity p of the sample. This correlation is summarized in the following equation: p=

J JPS

(13.4)

This means that the porosity p of a sample can be adjusted by the current density J. It is controlled by the backside illumination intensity independently from the voltage. 13.2.1.5 Pore Wall Passivation The width of the SCR is a critical factor in the etching process. It prevents the pore walls from being post-etched. In the SCR there are no free charge carriers available. The silicon is depleted and therefore no charge transfer through the silicon-electrolyte interface is possible. As can be seen in Eq. (13.1) the width WSCR can be adjusted by the voltage U and the doping density ND . Controlling WSCR by the voltage is limited to small changes only: A decreased voltage will diminish the focusing effect of the charge carriers towards the pore tips. In contrast, an increased voltage leads to a higher amount of dark currents that cannot be controlled. Consequently, the preferred way is to tune the WSCR by the doping density of the material. 13.2.1.6 Lithography In contrast to the anodization of metals (e.g. aluminum, titanium) the growth of macropores in silicon is not a self-ordering process. The pores would not form a periodic arrangement naturally. The pore position, however, can be predefined by lithography and subsequently etching in potassium hydroxide (KOH). The obtained etch pits then work as nucleation sites for the pore growth (Fig. 13.3a). The advantage of this process is that one is not only restricted to a hexagonal pore arrangement. Rather, the prepatterning can be varied in the pore arrangement and pore size, having a specific impact on several applications as shown below. Although the etching process is not a self-ordering process, it is a self-organizing one. For a given doping density, applied voltage and backside illumination an average porosity and pore diameter will arise. Therefore, the lithography has to fit with the intrinsic material parameters. The passivation of the pore walls and thus the prevention of the pore walls from being post-etched is a consequence of the SCR. For a stabilized pore growth the remaining silicon between neighboring pores should be completely depleted from charge carriers. From this requirement a rule of thumb can be derived for the lattice constant of the lithography: The interpore distance a has to be chosen twice as large as the width WSCR . It implies, that higher doped material is preferentially used for smaller interpore distances and vice versa.

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Fig. 13.3 SEM images of macroporous silicon: (a) Bird’s eye view of KOH etch pits formed at the silicon surface prior to the etching process. (b) Straight pores with 50 μm in depth etched into silicon with a predefined hexagonal lattice of 6 μm pore-to-pore distance

13.2.2 Etching of Straight Tubular Structures In the previous section the basic model of macroporous pore etching in n-type silicon was presented. The most important points should be summarized once again: • for ordered pore composition, a prepatterning with a certain mask design is necessary • the SCR is responsible for pore wall passivation • the etching speed is dependent only on acid concentration and temperature • the porosity and therefore the pore diameter is controlled by the backside illumination intensity With these four points at hand and in mind one can understand the formation of macropores: A given sample with a defined mask is etched at a speed determined by temperature and acid concentration with an interpore distance fixed by the mask and a pore diameter given by the intensity of the backside illumination. 13.2.2.1 Stability Concerning the stability of the etching process several points are relevant. Firstly, the etching speed is affected by the electrolyte temperature. To avoid inhomogeneities during the etching the temperature has to be kept constant within 0.1 K. Another important point is the fact that during the pore etching HF-molecules are consumed and hydrogen is produced. To avoid hydrogen bubbles to stick at the surface the electrolyte can be stirred or pumped. In addition, some surfactant should be added. The consumption of HF-molecules can be neglected as long as the volume of the electrolyte is large compared to the dissolved volume of silicon. However, things are different at the micrometer scale inside the pores. While a pore is growing, the

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exchange of reactants with the HF-basin at the front side of the sample becomes more and more affected by diffusion processes. A concentration gradient establishes between the pore bottom and the opening of the pore at the sample surface. Consequently, with a lower concentration the etching speed slows down and also the critical current density JPS diminishes. According to Eq. (13.4), a decreasing JPS results in an increasing porosity p if the illumination intensity and thus the current density J is kept constant. The pores grow larger in diameter and finally – for JPS < J – electropolishing sets in. To avoid this situation one has to establish a correction parameter for the illumination intensity in dependence on the pore depth. In that way, a uniform pore pattern with aspect ratios of several hundreds to one can be obtained. After defining the starting conditions with a pattern of pore nucleation sites, the etching process itself is self-stabilizing. The porosity is controlled by the current density J over the entire etched surface. Thus there is no direct control mechanism for each individual pore. The self-stabilizing effect is based on the fact, that the HF concentration determines the growth velocity. Let us assume a situation in which one pore is somewhat ahead of the surrounding ones. This pore will then collect more charge carriers because of its enlarged SCR. However, the excess of consumed charge carriers will also decrease the concentration of the HF in this pore. As a consequence, the growth velocity is reduced and the offset to neighboring pores is compensated. Analogous argument holds for pores staying behind the surrounding ones. Because of this feedback interaction the pore depth is the same for all pores (Fig. 13.3b). 13.2.2.2 Surface Roughness The adjustment of the effective current density controlled by the backside illumination is done over the whole etched area. However, the local current density at the tip of the pore is always JPS . Consequently, the bottom of the pore is electropolished and a very smooth surface is obtained (Fig. 13.4). In contrast, the pore walls exhibit a layer of microporous silicon with a certain roughness. The reason for this layer can be found in a kind of post etching process. While at the outermost pore tip electropolishing occurs the current drops gradually along the pore wall and therefore the already etched pore walls are being post-etched. Both, the divalent and the tetravalent dissolution of silicon as shown in Eqs. (13.2) and (13.3) take place simultaneously. This is experimentally confirmed by the fact that the number of charge carriers required for the dissolution of one silicon atom is around 2.7. Additionally, there is always a certain amount of dark currents, e.g. charge carriers generated by tunneling processes. Therefore, the thickness as well as the roughness of this microporous layer depends on the applied voltage as well as on the mixture of the electrolyte. 13.2.2.3 Limits Naturally, the question arises what are the limits of this process? It appears in Eq. (13.1) that any width WSCR can be obtained just by the proper doping of the

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Fig. 13.4 SEM picture of the bottom of a pore. While the pore tip has a smooth polished surface the walls show a certain roughness [18]

material. In lowly doped material, large interpore distances and pore diameters can be realized, e.g. etching of pore diameters up to 100 μm were reported [19]. For small interpore distances, highly doped substrates are required. The pore formation process then is limited by electrical breakdown, because the critical voltage at which charge carriers are generated by electrical breakdown approaches only a few volt. It has to be considered that the local electric field strength at the pore bottom is increased due to the curvature of the pore tip. In this case the field strength is significantly higher than that for a planar interface. This effect is most pronounced in the small interpore distance region and limits the lowest lattice constant which can be realized to a value of about 500 nm. The same argumentation is true for the pore diameters. With a fixed doping density and a given lattice constant pores with diameters close to the interpore distance are possible (Fig. 13.5a). The limit for diameters that are small compared to the interpore distance is determined by the critical local breakdown voltage. If the pores are too small in diameter the resulting small radius of curvature would locally boost the electrical field strength and unintentional charge carrier generation can no longer be prevented. Furthermore, charge carriers can bypass the region of the pore tip and post-etch the pore walls. Therefore, small pores with diameters of only a few hundred nanometers or even less can be grown, but the pore walls show a ragged and non-uniform surface (Fig. 13.5b). Mesoporous pore growth resulting in sponge-like structures occurs and the continuum model discussed so far is not valid any longer.

13.2.3 Pores with Modulated Diameter So far, the formation of straight pores with a constant diameter was demonstrated. With regard to Eq. (13.4) we learned that the porosity of a sample can be tuned

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Fig. 13.5 Cross section SEM of (a) pores with a very large diameter close to the interpore distance and (b) dying pores when the diameter is not big enough. The amount of holes generated by electrical breakdown is increased leading to eroded pores

by the current density J. Moreover, we used this dependence to compensate for the concentration loss of the acid due to diffusion effects in the pores. With rethinking this dependence, we can find a way to alter the pore shape while manufacturing. In contrast to the slow and steady adjustment necessary for diffusion compensation, the current density is now strongly modulated on a timescale of seconds to minutes. In combination with a periodic variation of the voltage, a pore shape with sharp kinks can be obtained. With this rather fast adjustment of the current as well as the voltage, the formation of diameter-modulated pores does no longer occur in the steady-state region of stable pore growth. Nevertheless, highly ordered three-dimensionally modulated structures can be obtained with this method. The mechanisms responsible for the pore growth will be presented in a detailed form in the following sections. 13.2.3.1 Current-Only Modulation In a first approach a periodically modulated current profile is applied to the backside illumination LED array. In proportion to that, the minority charge carrier density is also modulated and therefore the amount of defect electrons at the pore tip changes. In Fig. 13.6a an applied sawtooth-like current profile is shown while the voltage is kept constant at 1.8 V. The obtained pore shape belonging to this profile is shown in Fig. 13.6b. The diameter of the pore changes in a sinusoidal form between 1 and 1.4 μm. The shape of the pores did not follow directly the applied current profile and the shape of the pores is very smooth without sharp spikes. The reason is the altered condition in the SCR. If the current is increased, charge carriers are accumulated in the region of the pore tip. However, since the pore cannot adjust its diameter to a certain value instantaneously, it has to increase. With these additional charges the

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Fig. 13.6 (a) Sawtooth-like current profile (black line) for one modulation period with a constant voltage of 1.8 V (blue line). (b) SEM picture of the resulting structure with a unique lattice constant in all spatial dimensions [18]

focusing effect of the SCR is lowered and therefore the passivation of the pore walls is diminished [20]. The defect electrons do not only react at the tip of the pores but also in areas that were already etched before and the pore shape becomes smeared. 13.2.3.2 Voltage-Assisted Current Modulation To overcome the impact of the modified charge carrier density, the SCR itself has to be adjusted as well. According to Eq. (13.1) the width of the SCR WSCR – and therefore its capability of focusing incoming charges – is dependent on the voltage. A higher voltage will enlarge the width of the SCR and vice versa. However, an increased voltage brings the electrical condition at the pore tip closer to the limit of breakdown. This effect – dependent on the doping level of the silicon and the pore geometry – destabilizes the pore growth and is therefore not a general solution to this problem. Only a combination of both, stable and unstable etching steps is capable of producing uniform pores with a sharp modulation. A detailed description of strongly modulated pore etching is given in the following. In Fig. 13.7 a three-dimensionally modulated structure with sharp kinks and a symmetric shape is shown. The square lattice has a lattice constant of a = 1.5 μm and the same modulation length. As an example we will observe the growth of one single modulation of this structure. The current-voltage profile that was applied while etching the structure is shown in Fig. 13.8b: The black curve is the etching current density, the blue one the applied voltage for one period. To visualize the progress of the pore formation the pore growth was stopped at seven different points of the modulation. For every point the sample cross section was looked at in an SEM (Fig. 13.8a). The obtained pore shape was redrawn and is schematically reproduced in Fig. 13.8c. In the beginning (point 1) a new pore with a small diameter at the bottom should be grown. The mechanism used for this purpose is quite different from

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Fig. 13.7 SEM cross section of pores etched with modulation of the current as well as the voltage. (a) Cross section of 20 modulations. (b) Magnified area with 3 – by – 3 modulations. (c) Bird’s eye view of the structure [21]

the macropore etching described above. As can be seen in Fig. 13.8b the voltage is increased by a large amount that locally exceeds the critical breakdown value. Additional charge carriers in the vicinity of the pore bottom are generated by tunneling. Combining both, the charge carriers generated by illumination and the charge carriers generated by tunneling due to the locally increased electric field strength, a nanometer scaled pore in the [100] – direction (point 2) is obtained. This process of pore generation by breakdown voltage is stable only for some 10 nm. After that, the voltage has to be reduced again. Otherwise the pores would start to branch or die and the ordering would be lost. Simultaneously, the current density is increased (points 3 up to 7). As expected the pore grows larger in diameter. In Fig. 13.8c the contour of the pore is redrawn for every point. It can be seen that the etching takes place not only at the outer region of the pore tip. Also regions already etched get widened in their diameter. Furthermore, the sharp kink that marks the beginning of a new pore is propagating slightly with increasing pore depth. This can be seen best comparing the shapes of point 2 and point 7 in Fig. 13.8c. While for the last steps (points 5–7) the position of this kink remains stable, it has changed significantly during the formation and etching of the small pore (points 2–4). During the formation of the small pore more charge carriers can propagate between neighboring pores. Despite the increased width of the SCR not all of them are directed to the tip of the evolving pore and therefore they hit the surface at regions beyond the etch front. As a result, the already etched parts are widened and the position of the kink moves. The current density has reached its maximum value at point 7. The voltage was raised again while approaching the maximum current density. This can help to protect the side walls from being etched too much because the majority of the charge carriers is focused to the pore tip. After this final point the current density is switched to zero for a short time. During this stage remaining charge carriers can be consumed. In addition, time is given for the diffusion of reactants and the relaxation of the electrolyte to normal concentration. In contrast to the sinusoidally shaped pores (Fig. 13.6), strongly modulated pores with sharp kinks require a modulation of the current density and an adaptation of the

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Fig. 13.8 (a) SEM pictures of the evolution of one etched pore at seven different points of the modulation profile. It starts with a tiny pore that is widened afterwards. (b) The current-voltage profile for one modulation, the black curve denotes the current density, the blue curve the voltage. (c) Visualized pore shape acquired from the pictures in (a) [20]

SCR via the applied voltage. Thereby, the steady-state regime is left and even unstable conditions are used for the pore formation. A detailed understanding of these processes nevertheless allows the fabrication of highly ordered diameter-modulated pore structures [21].

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13.2.4 Nonuniform Pore Growth The structures presented so far were equally sized in interpore distance and pore diameter. In the following, the controlled introduction of a nonuniformity should emphasize the complexity but also the versatility of the macroporous silicon etching process. The prestructured mask of the sample under consideration is shown in Fig. 13.9a: A square lattice with a lattice constant of 6 μm and a base consisting of two different sizes of etch pits. The larger etch pit has a side length of 3 μm while for the smaller one two differently sized etch pits are examined: 0.56 and 0.76 μm, respectively. The depth of the etch pits differs because of the anisotropic etching process in KOH during the prepatterning. The pore with the larger diameter is 2.1 μm deep and has therefore an offset compared to the smaller pore of 1.7 and 1.6 μm, respectively. The etching behavior of this mask type was systematically studied, varying the size of the small etch pit, the applied voltage, and the doping density. It was shown

Fig. 13.9 (a) Bird’s eye view of a square lattice with an alternating sequence of two differently sized pores (3 and 0.56 μm, respectively) and an offset between larger and smaller etch pits. (b) Stable pore growth could be observed for at least 100 μm resulting in pores with different diameters and lengths. (c) Measured offset depending on the pore depth, the applied voltage, and the initial pit size of the small pore. (d) SEM image of a modulated macroporous silicon sample with twopore lattice. The maxima in diameter for the thick pore occur at a different depth than that for the thin pore [22]

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that a stable pore growth of at least 100 μm in depth is possible [22]. In Fig. 13.9b a more detailed view is given for the bottom part of a sample with a small etch pit of 0.76 μm side length: There are thicker as well as thinner pores and there is an offset in the length between them. Interestingly, the ratio of the pore diameters equals the side length ratio of the etch pits. Roughly speaking, the large etch pits start with a larger diameter and thus collect more charge carriers than the small ones. Therefore, the diameter ratio of the small and large pores can be adjusted by the side length of the etch pits. In Fig. 13.9c the evolution of the offset between the two types of pores is shown for different parameters. For an applied voltage of 3.5 V the offset strongly diminishes during the first ten micrometers and then steadily decreases at a rate of 0.23 μm per 100 μm. The difference between the two curves for 3.5 V and different depths of the etch pits (0.56 and 0.76 μm) is equal to the difference in the depth of the etch pits. For a voltage of 2.5 V and a size of 0.76 μm for the small pits it is worth noting that finally a region is reached in which the offset remains nearly constant at 0.7 μm (black curve in Fig. 13.9c). The material used had a resistivity of 1 cm. Comparable experiments were performed with lower doped material of 5 cm resistivity. For the latter one no growth of the small pores could be observed. Only the pores with the large diameter grew. From this result it can be concluded that in the case of the lower doped material no charge carriers were transported to the small pores. Because the SCR extends broader into the lowly doped material, the small pores are shielded from incoming charge carriers, i.e. they cannot grow. In the higher doped material the form of the SCR is more closely adapted to the pore shape. Charge carriers are focused to the large pores as well as to the small ones. It was also possible to modulate the diameter during the etching process. Applying a strongly modulated current-voltage profile similar to the one discussed in detail in the preceding section leads to a diameter modulation as shown in Fig. 13.9d. The offset is visible in the different positions of the maxima in diameter between small and large pores. To summarize this section it was shown that not only straight pores with a constant diameter can be grown over large depths. Also pores modulated in diameter can be obtained when the porosity is altered in situ. Generally, smoothly modulated pores are obtained. In extension of this process it was shown that an additional adjustment of the SCR via the applied voltage can lead to pores with a strong modulation and sharp kinks. In the application section, further pore shapes will be presented and their applications will be discussed.

13.3 Post Treatment The range of applications can be significantly expanded by proper post treatment of the etched samples. On one hand the pore surface can be modified to obtain specific surface properties. On the other hand post etching steps can be applied in order to alter the structure itself, i.e. to modify the volume or shape of the macropores.

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The treatment of the surface is a very complex topic that is strongly dependent on the desired application. After taking the samples out of the electrolyte and rinsing them in clean water their surface is hydrogen-terminated. In ambient atmosphere this surface coverage is not stable and after some hours a silicon dioxide layer forms. The thickness of this layer is about 3 nm and remains stable. Due to the water in the air the dangling bonds at the surface are saturated with hydroxyl molecules. When macroporous silicon is used as a template material (see Chapter 5 by Steinhart), in catalysis, chemisorption or in microfluidics, its surface has to be modified with precursors to remove the hydroxyl groups and alter the surface functionality. To give an example, the wettability of the pore walls can be tuned: The hydrogen-terminated silicon surface that is present directly after the etching process is hydrophobic. In contrast, a pure SiO2 surface and also a surface terminated with Si–OH (silanol) groups is hydrophilic.

13.3.1 Isotropic Form Treatment Beyond the modification of the surface conditions the ease of forming an oxide layer is one of the most valuable properties of silicon. Silicon dioxide, also known as a principal component of glass, is nontoxic and biocompatible. Therefore, it is well suited for interactions with organic molecules. Beside the native oxide on the surface, an oxide layer can also be grown thermally, either in a wet or dry atmosphere. Thermal oxidation of silicon is typically performed at temperatures between 800 and 1,200◦ C. In a dry oxidation process the environment contains only oxygen. The grown films are very uniform and denser than films grown under wet conditions (i.e. in the presence of hydrogen). The growth rate of a dry oxide, however, is much slower than that for wet oxidation. About silicon and its oxide numerous publications can be found. In here, only a special feature related to the pore shape will be discussed. The growth rates given in literature are mostly obtained for planar surfaces. The oxidation of pores on the other hand is – dependent on the diameter of the pores – retarded compared to flat interface conditions. The reason is the strain induced during the growth of the oxide layer. The volume of silicon dioxide is 2.25 times larger than that of the original silicon. Inside a pore the grown silicon dioxide layer cannot relax in the same way as on a planar surface. This additional induced strain significantly lowers the diffusion of oxygen through the silicon dioxide layer towards the silicon interface where the oxide growth takes place. Hence, also the growth rate is reduced and the oxidation process – especially for thick silicon dioxide layers of several tens to hundred nanometers – is retarded. The counterpart of the oxidation – the removal of the oxide layer – is performed in HF-containing acids such as aqueous HF or NH4 F. As shown in Fig. 13.4 the pore walls appear to be rough after the etching. This surface roughness can be decreased by at least one order of magnitude when the macroporous silicon is shortly oxidized followed by a dip in an HF-containing acid to remove the oxide layer.

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During the oxidation of silicon not only the surface is affected. With longer oxidation times the amount of silicon that is oxidized increases and the oxide layer grows deeper into the entire structure. Despite the retarded oxidation of macroporous silicon due to the curved surface of the pores it is possible to fully oxidize the silicon [23]. This can be interesting for applications, e.g. in life sciences: While silicon is only transparent for wavelengths larger than 1.1 μm, silicon dioxide is also transparent in the visible spectrum of light. Beside these two extrema, the surface modification and the complete oxidation of the structure, a partial oxidation can be used to tune the pore diameter after the etching or even to fit a special design as shown in the application section. The dry oxidation in a controlled environment, e.g. in a tube furnace with stabilized heating zones and mass flow controller, gives a very reproducible and homogeneous oxide thickness. In combination with a subsequent etching step in HF or NH4 F, the structure is widened isotropically. The advantage of this process compared to an isotropic widening in, e.g., a mixture of HF/HNO3 is the precise thickness control: The amount of silicon removed by this procedure is determined by the thickness of the grown oxide. This allows for tuning of the pore diameter after the etching. Though this process seems to be straightforward, some restrictions have to be kept in mind. For thin oxide layers (short oxidation times) the oxide growth speed is very high. Hence, statistical fluctuations during the growth can have an undesired effect and the uniform shape of the structure could suffer during this procedure. In the case of thick oxide layers the dominating factor is the induced stress. Therefore, the possibility of damaging the structure has to be taken into account. An oxide layer thickness of 50–100 nm is an optimum value avoiding both, inhomogeneity and cracking. If thicker layers have to be removed a splitting of this procedure into several sequential oxidation and oxide removal steps is recommended.

13.3.2 Anisotropic Form Treatment Another possibility to alter the pore shape after the etching is the treatment in an alkaline solution such as potassium hydroxide (KOH). The {100} – and the {110} – planes are preferentially etched and the etch rate is one to two orders of magnitude larger than that for the {111} – planes [24]. Treating a three-dimensional macroporous silicon structure with this process can result in a variety of different shapes (Fig. 13.10). Furthermore, it can be useful to have a porous structure with both ends of the pores opened. This means that the remaining silicon from the backside up to the pore bottoms has to be removed. Therefore, a further property of KOH is considered: The etch ratio between silicon and silicon oxide can reach a factor of several thousands. Based on this property the porous structure is first oxidized (a few 10 nm) and afterwards the backside of the silicon is etched in KOH. When the pore bottoms are reached, the silicon oxide protects the porous structure from the KOH for a couple of minutes, giving enough time to stop the process. Subsequently, the oxide is etched away in an HF-containing solution and a porous membrane is obtained (Fig. 13.11).

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Fig. 13.10 (a) The original three-dimensional macroporous silicon structure shown in cross section. (b) Top view of the sample after etching in lowly concentrated (2 wt%) KOH: The structure possesses crystallographically defined side walls. (c) For longer etching times a highly porous scaffold structure with interconnected microbars is obtained [25]

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Fig. 13.11 Schematic representation of membrane fabrication: The etched macroporous silicon (a) is oxidized (b) and subsequently etched in KOH (c). The angle between the (100) – oriented surface and the remaining (111) pore wall is 54.7◦ . The silicon dioxide can be removed with an HF-dip and a porous membrane is obtained (d)

13.4 Applications The versatile and complex etching process of macroporous silicon leads to a variety of different pore shapes and surface conditions. This fact is also reflected in numerous applications. In the Chapter 5 by Steinhart several methods are presented in which macroporous silicon is used as a template material. For that purpose the etched samples get a surface treatment well suited for the subsequent filling of the pores. After removal of the silicon an inverted copy of the macroporous silicon sample is obtained. A specific application of this technique is proposed in [26], where diameter-modulated gold microwires are fabricated and their use as microbarcodes is suggested. The utilization as template material is by far not the only application of macroporous silicon. A selection of applications based on macroporous silicon will be presented in the following sections.

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13.4.1 Photonic Crystals A photonic crystal (PC) is a periodic structure with an alternating sequence of materials with different permittivities and a periodicity in the order of the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave. Similar to Bragg-like x-ray scattering at atomic crystal lattices, waves of larger wavelength are scattered at PCs [27, 28]. Macroporous silicon with feature sizes on a micrometer scale and its highly ordered arrangement of pores is an ideal candidate for such applications. A precisely designed PC is capable of guiding light in a specified way or to dramatically reduce the speed of light in the medium. Beyond that, a PC can suppress electromagnetic waves from propagation in a certain energy range. This effect is associated with a photonic band gap and was one of the driving forces in the design of PCs. Typically, two-dimensional (2D) structures are used as waveguides, or frequency-, direction-, and polarization-filters. More effort is required when PCs are used to control the emission of light. Since a classic dipole emits in all three spatial dimensions also three-dimensionally (3D) modulated structures are required to control and manipulate such a behavior. Furthermore, only 3D PCs can confine light in all spatial dimensions using a complete photonic band gap. Thus the propagation of light is prohibited for certain frequencies in any direction of the PC.

13.4.1.1 Two-Dimensional Photonic Crystals Although they cannot confine light in all three dimensions, 2D PCs can exhibit large band gaps in two dimensions. The most common types of 2D PCs have a quadratic or hexagonal arrangement of pores. It can be distinguished between two polarization directions of the electromagnetic wave with respect to the pore geometry: While in the transversal-electric (TE) mode the electric field oscillates

Fig. 13.12 Size of the lowest photonic band gap in dependence on the pore diameter for (a) square and (b) triangular lattices with a dielectric constant of ε = 12. The pore radius and the frequency are given in units of the lattice constant. The values were calculated with the MIT photonic bands package [29]

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perpendicular to the pores, in the transversal-magnetic (TM) mode the electric field is parallel to the pore axis. In Fig. 13.12 for both of these lattice types the frequency range of the lowest photonic band gap in dependence on the pore radius is given. For the case of the square lattice (Fig. 13.12a) the photonic band gaps for the TE (blue area) and TM (red area) polarization occur in separated frequency and pore radii ranges. In a hexagonal lattice there is an overlap of both ranges resulting in a 2D complete photonic band gap. For the experimental characterization of the photonic band gap a 2D PC was grown with a hexagonal lattice and a pore-to-pore distance of a = 1.5 μm. Thin bars of only a few crystal layers were prepared (Fig. 13.13) using a microstructuring technique [32].

Fig. 13.13 SEM pictures of 2D macroporous silicon with a hexagonal lattice and a lattice constant of a = 1.5 μm. The thinner part with its surface along the −M direction consists of 13 pore rows. The thicker part is made for reasons of stability. In addition, this structure also features a line defect as can be seen in (c) and (d) [30, 31]

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Fig. 13.14 (a) Measured (solid line) and calculated (dashed line) transmission spectra of a 2D hexagonal PC for TE (H-polarized) and TM (E-polarized) polarization and the interface cut along the − M and − K direction. The sample consists of 13 pore rows with a lattice constant of a = 1.5 μm and a pore radius of r = 0.46 a. The photonic band gap is centered around λ = 3.2 μm [30]. (b) Measured (points) and calculated (solid lines) transmissivity for samples with a thickness of 1 ( ), 2 (•), 3 (), and 4 () crystal layers [33]. (c) SEM picture of a single pore row as used for the measurement shown in (b)

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The transmission was measured in the vicinity of the photonic band gap for a crystal with its surface along the − M and − K direction for both polarization modes (Fig. 13.14a). The loss in transmission intensity becomes evident for at least three orders of magnitude around the photonic band gap (centered at λ = 3.2 μm). The comparison of the measured curves with the theoretical calculated ones reveals a very good agreement between theory and experiment. The photonic band gap is a volume property of a PC. This can be verified by varying the number of crystal rows [33]. Similar to the structures in Fig. 13.13 PCs with one up to four crystal rows were prepared. The transmission measurement of these structures in the mid-infrared revealed clearly a dependence on the thickness and thus on the number of crystal rows (Fig. 13.14b). In fact, an exponential attenuation of 10 dB per crystal layer within the photonic band gap (3.1 μm < λ < 5.5 μm) could be observed which is in good agreement with theoretical calculations. 13.4.1.2 Defects in Macroporous Silicon In extension of the etching process of 2D pore structures the periodicity of the lattice can be perturbed. For instance, single pores can be prevented from being etched or their position or diameter is changed compared to the surrounding ones. This can be realized with a lithographic mask designed accordingly. A missing pore can be thought of as a defect in the etching process. No charge carriers are consumed during the etching at the position of this defect. Since in this self-stabilizing etching process the carrier density is homogeneously dispersed, the pores in the vicinity of this defect have to consume this additional number of charge carriers. As a result, the surrounding pores grow larger in diameter compared to pores further away from this defect. This effect is less developed for small pore diameters than for larger ones since the charge carrier density rises with the square of the pore diameter. Therefore, the pores are preferentially etched with a smaller diameter and afterwards widened isotropically as described in the post treatment section. As mentioned in the previous section, in a 2D PC a photonic band gap can exist. In the picture of the photonic band structure a defect (for instance a point defect as shown in Fig. 13.15a) breaks the symmetry of the lattice and therefore changes the

Fig. 13.15 SEM pictures of defect structures realized in a 2D PC with an a = 1.5 μm hexagonal lattice. (a) A single missing pore. (b) A waveguide that can bend the light sharply around corners and even split one beam in two parts (c) [34, 35]

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properties of the PC. With a properly designed defect in a PC it is even possible to generate states inside the photonic band gap. An electromagnetic wave package is localized at this location if it is in resonance with the eigenfrequency of such a defect state [36]. Because of the photonic band gap the wave package cannot escape through the surrounding pores since it is backscattered. Consequently, the light is stored at the location of the defect within the photonic band gap. Combining several point defects to a line defect, such resonant modes can be guided through a PC. These so called waveguides are as narrow as the wavelength of the transmitted light or even less. Therefore, PC-based waveguides are much narrower than conventional structures used for this purpose based on internal reflections. The defect structures shown in Fig. 13.15b, c consist of a combination of several missing pores giving a line defect. For example, light can be sharply bent around corners (Fig. 13.15b) or split into two separate beams (Fig. 13.15c). There are no radiation losses in an ideal 2D geometry because of the surrounding material and the band gap. Even in the presence of scattering the radiation losses into the third dimension are low and a high output quality can be reached. 13.4.1.3 Three-Dimensional Photonic Crystals A 3D structure in simple cubic geometry with a complete photonic band gap was proposed by Leonard [37]. In the band structure (Fig. 13.16a) a region can be seen where no propagation of light is possible for any direction in the PC. The model

Fig. 13.16 A 3D simple cubic PC in silicon (ε = 11.7) with a complete photonic band gap as suggested by Leonard [37]. (a) The photonic band structure reveals that there is no propagation possible in any direction for a range of frequencies, i.e. a photonic band gap (grey bar) exists. (b) The reciprocal lattice cell with the points of high symmetry. (c) A model structure of the simple cubic crystal with overlapping air spheres of radius r = 0.605 a

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structure for this theoretical prediction is shown in Fig. 13.16c. It is a simple cubic lattice of silicon with inserted overlapping empty spheres. For the highest possible width of the complete photonic band gap the radius of the spheres is r = 0.605a (a is the lattice constant). Consequently, the spheres are overlapping each other and thus all pores are connected to each other. This structure was realized experimentally within the framework of the macroporous silicon material system. Starting with a square lattice of a = 1.5 μm lattice constant a strongly modulated structure was grown (Fig. 13.17a). Thereby, the modulation period equals the lattice constant. The pores are connected in the vertical direction due to the etching process – but not yet in the lateral direction. In order

Fig. 13.17 SEM images of a 3D macroporous silicon structure with a square lattice of a = 1.5 μm lattice constant. (a) Cross section of the strongly modulated grown structure with a modulation length of 1.5 μm. (b) Symmetric pore shape after the homogeneous pore widening. (c, d) Bird’s eye view of this 3D PC structure [21]

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to realize the overlapping spheres, the procedure of homogeneous pore widening was applied as described in the post treatment section. All in all four iterations of growing an oxide layer (900◦ C, 2 h) and removing it in NH4 F (12.5%, 1 h) were carried out. A film of about 70 nm thickness was removed in every step (Fig. 13.17b). In the area of the large pore diameter the walls were opened and neighboring pores became connected to each other. Thus an ordered porous structure was fabricated capable of acting as a PC with a complete photonic band gap in 3D (Fig. 13.17c, d) [21]. The material requirements for applications as PCs are high: The periodicity of the structure has to be on the order of the desired wavelength with a precision in the range of 1/20 of the wavelength. While a couple of preparation techniques are already known for the fabrication of 2D structures, manufacturing 3D structures is still a challenging task. PCs based on macroporous silicon offer this precision. Moreover, they can be fabricated in a large scale process.

13.4.2 Microfluidics Macroporous silicon cannot only be applied to alter the propagation of light. It can also be used to control the flow of liquids. The material parameters of interest are different from that required for photonic applications. The formation of channels and their shape are the important points to consider. In microfluidics, materials are required with a well defined surface and shape. Macroporous silicon is an excellent candidate for this aim as demonstrated in the following example of a ratchet device. It was proposed based on theoretical work [38] that a ratchet-shaped pore profile can separate particles of different size – dispensed in a liquid – without a net transport of the liquid itself. An upper and a lower basin are separated by a membrane with asymmetrically shaped pores (Fig. 13.18a). The liquid with the dispersed microparticles is periodically pumped between upper and lower basin with an average net liquid flow of zero. For the experimental verification of this experiment a macroporous silicon sample with an asymmetric pore profile was grown and afterwards the remaining silicon was removed from the backside with KOH (cf. Fig. 13.11). The pore geometry can be seen in Fig. 13.18c, d: It is a triangular pattern with 6 μm pore-to-pore distance, 150 μm in depth, and the maximum (minimum) diameter of the modulation is 4.8 μm (2.5 μm). Particles of 0.32 μm diameter could be transported to the upper basin with such a membrane when a periodic pressure oscillation was applied. The density of the spheres in the upper basin was measured via photoluminescence (PL). In Fig. 13.18b some experimental data are shown. The pressure oscillations were toggled on and off every 60 s to exclude long-term drifts. During this period the intensity in the upper basin – and therefore the concentration of particles – starts from a homogeneous particle distribution and increases during the pump-on times (curve U). The effect of the asymmetry of the pore shape can be seen when turning the membrane upside down. Now the intensity decreases (Ureversed ). It can be

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Fig. 13.18 (a) Schematics of the horizontally mounted and asymmetric diameter-modulated membrane separating two basins. (b) Measured photoluminescence (PL) intensity in the upper basin (U), for the reverse mounted membrane (Ureversed ), and a cylindrical pore shape for comparison (Ucylindrical ). (c) SEM picture of a cleaved macroporous silicon membrane used for the experiment. (d) Magnified version with a colloidal sphere of 1 μm in diameter inside the pore sticking to the pore wall [39]

seen in the curve Ucylindrical that this effect is clearly related to the asymmetric shape of the membrane: The measurement was performed with a sample of cylindrical pore shape (diameter 2.4 μm) but no significant particle transport could be observed.

13.4.3 Materials Science This last section will briefly highlight a few additional ideas realized with macroporous silicon. In Fig. 13.19a an area of silicon spikes can be seen. Since silicon is a very hard material it can be used as a micrometer sized structuring tool, e.g. as a stamp for imprint lithography. This structure was prepared using a 2D

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Fig. 13.19 Certain forms of appearance of structures based on macroporous silicon. (a) Pattern of sharp silicon spikes in a square lattice of 2 μm. (b) One silicon dioxide tube on top of an array of oxidized macroporous silicon pores after partly removing the silicon from the backside. (c) Bird’s eye view of the sample in (b) which shows an edge and uncovered silicon dioxide tubes. (d) Diameter-modulated titanium dioxide tubes, fabricated by replicating a macroporous silicon sample with atomic layer deposition

macroporous silicon sample in which the pore diameter was strongly increased at the end. Thus neighboring pores got connected to each other and the porous silicon layer can be removed easily. The remaining pore bottom with the spikes has the same lattice geometry as the lithographically defined etch pits. In Fig. 13.19b a bottom view of a macroporous silicon membrane is shown. The pores were grown in a normal way and afterwards oxidized. With the KOH etching used for the membrane preparation the bulk silicon from the backside was removed. On top of the sample a completely released silicon dioxide microtube can be seen. The bright shining domes are SiO2 tubes with a closed bottom, partly released from the silicon (Fig. 13.19c). A suggested application as a window for electron beams in high vacuum chambers is given in [40]. Also the modulated pore structures can be used as a template. In Fig. 13.19d modulated titanium dioxide tubes are shown: The minimum diameter is 0.4 and

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1.6 μm the maximum one. They were fabricated by atomic layer deposition of titanium dioxide in the pores of a modulated macroporous silicon sample. Afterwards, the silicon was selectively removed in KOH. Applications of these biocompatible titanium dioxide spheres may be found in life science, e.g. for drug delivery purposes.

13.5 Summary A basic introduction to the fabrication as well as applied aspects of macroporous silicon were presented. The enormous adaptability of this material system is based on the fact, that all the common process techniques developed in the silicon industry can be applied. The basic features were presented in this chapter and should give the necessary informations whether a closer look to this material system is worthwhile for the reader. Nevertheless, the most difficult part is still open to the reader: No realization without imagination. Acknowledgment We thank J. V. Wittemann for carefully reading and correcting the manuscript.

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Index

A AAO, see anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) Acetylcholine receptor, 7 AFM, see Atomic force microscopy (AFM) Amphiphilic block copolymers, 285, 286f Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO), 129–140, 132f, 142–144, 142f–143f, 146–147, 148f, 149–150, 151f, 152–158, 417 Artificial nanopores, 173–174 fabrication, see fabrication of artificial nanopores from microlithographic methods, 173–174 tailoring the surface chemistry of, 188–190 electroless gold deposition, 188–190 generating biocompatible nanopore surfaces, 190 from track-etch method, 174 Atomic force microscopy (AFM), 40, 80, 226, 227f–228f, 303f, 303 Atomic layer deposition (ALD), 422–425 fabrication of TiO2 /Ni/TiO2 nanotubes, 423f Kirkendall effect, 424f, 425 TMV treated with TiO2 by ALD, 425, 425f Atomic layer epitaxy, see Atomic layer deposition (ALD) “Attoliter chemistry,” 54 B β-Barrel porins, 1 BCP, see block copolymer (BCP) Bilayer deformation energy, 25, 26f Bilayer punch (“patch clamp”) method, 14 Bilayer-spanning channels, see gramicidin channels (as cation nanotubes) Bile salt surfactants, 282

Biological lipid nanotubes intercellular communication via TNTs, 101–104 role in transmission of infection, 104 signaling through nanotubes, function, 104 TNTs, conduits for transport of organelles, 102 intracellular membrane nanotubes, 105 formation of GPCs, 105 leukocyte rolling, 104–105 formation of tethers, 105 selectin bond, 104 transendothelial migration (diapedesis), 104 membrane nanotubes mechanically drawn from cell membrane, 106 DIC of NG108-15 cells with nanotube-vesicle connection, 106f Biological nanopore resistive-pulse sensors, 171–172 α-hemolysin protein channel, 171–172, 171f advantages/drawbacks, 172 maltoporin channels, 172 OmpF protein channels, 172 Block copolymer (BCP), 34, 117–119, 119f, 129–130, 136–138, 148–150, 152–153, 285, 286f Boron- and silicon-based nanotubes, 414 Branched/tree-like lipid nanotubes, 89–91 See also Euclidian Steiner Tree Problem (ESTP) Buoyant density, 289–292 C Capillary wetting, 136, 137f Carbon arc technique, 265–268

O. Hayden, K. Nielsch (eds.), Molecular- and Nano-Tubes, C Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 DOI 10.1007/978-1-4419-9443-1,

461

462 Carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs), 355–387 conventional-type CNFETs, 373–376 charge pile-up in C-CNFETs, 374–376 dual-gate CNFET, structure/ experimental transfer characteristics, 373–374, 373f–374f nanotube doping, 373 output characteristics of a CNFET (p-type), 356f tunneling CNFETs experimental realization, 385–386 lateral scaling of, 383–385 vertical scaling of, 382–383 working principle, 378–382 ultimate ultrathin-body Schottky-barrier(SB) MOSFETs drawbacks, 387 fabication with silicon wafers, 365 transfer characteristics of a SB-CNFET, 365–366, 366f transport in SB-CNFETs – ambipolar behavior, 371–373 transport in SB-CNFETs – off-state, 366–369 transport in SB-CNFETs – on-state, 369–371 See also electronic transport in CNFETs Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), 34, 37, 39, 48, 51f, 59, 120, 138, 146, 150, 173, 263–277, 276f, 279–280, 287, 310–311, 355–387, 392–394, 404–405, 413–414, 424–425 Cardanol, 42 C-CNFETs, see conventional-type CNFETs (C-CNFETs) CD, see circular dichroism (CD) CdS-encapsulated PNTs, 41, 42f Channel-bilayer hydrophobic coupling, 25 Chemical vapour deposition (CVD), 268–273 fabrication of ZnO nanowires, 421, 422f MOCVD, fabrication of NiO/GaN nanotubes, 421, 422f See also disproportionation of carbon monoxide Chiral elasticity theories, 115 Chiral molecular self-assembly, 35–37, 35f, 47 Chiral packing, 113 Circular dichroism (CD), 14, 111, 114, 228f Circular lipid nanotubes, 92–93, 92f CMC, see critical micelle concentration (CMC)

Index CNFETs, see carbon nanotube field-effect transistors (CNFETs) CNTs, see carbon nanotubes (CNTs) CNTs, synthesis of carbon arc technique, 265–266, 265f harvesting a nanotube-rich “spider web” product, 266f Kraetschmer generator, 265–266, 266f charge transport in, 263 chemical vapour deposition (CVD), 268–273 additional gases, functions, 269 Cambridge CVD reactor, 270, 270f carbon feedstock, 269 CVD reactors of the “Nanotube Factory” in Seoul, 269f CVD set-up (Stuttgart team), 269–270, 269f large-scale production by fluidized bed technique, 270 nanotube growth and semiconductor technology, 270–272, 271f–272f PECVD, production of ordered arrays for field emission applications, 273, 274f pyrolysis (cracking) of hydrocarbons, 268 reactor for nanotube synthesis, 268f RF/DC PECVD, 272–273 “supergrowth”, SWNT mats grown by, 272, 273f disproportionation of carbon monoxide, 274 laser ablation method, 267–268 equipment used (Stuttgart team), 267f “highest quality” tubes, 267 water cooled collector, 268f ordinary/conventional soot, 265 role of catalyst, 274–277 growth mechanism in CVD, 275–276 growth mechanism in laser and arc single-walled carbon nanotubes, 275, 276f model formulated for nanotube growth by laser ablation synthesis, 275f solid/liquid/metallic state of catalysts, 276–277, 277f single/multi-walled carbon nanotubes, 263 computer model of a single-walled carbon nanotube, 264f and ordinary soot, TEM images, 264f

Index Conical nanopore sensors attaching molecular-recognition agents to make highly selective protein sensors, 198–200 characterization of, 184–188 current-voltage curves, 185–188 electron microscopy, 184–185 resistive-pulse detection of small molecules, 191–195 resistive-pulse sensing of DNA analytes, 195–198 track-etched, advantages of, 200–201 Conjugated polymers, 286, 293, 298, 304, 319 Conventional-type CNFETs (C-CNFETs), 373–377, 387 Coulter-counter model, 169–170 Coulter principle, see resistive pulse method CPK model, 13f Critical micelle concentration (CMC), 36, 148, 245, 282 Critical packing parameter, 36 Cruciforms, 215 cis/trans nanopore openings, 215 geometry of, 216f See also thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) CVD grown nanotubes, 271f–272f D DC8,9 PC system, 110 Density gradient ultracentrifugation (DGU), 289–290, 292 DGU, see density gradient ultracentrifugation(DGU) Diapedesis, 104–105 Diarachidonyl-phosphatidylcholine (diAPC), 83 DIC, see differential interference contrast (DIC) Differential interference contrast (DIC), 85, 97f, 106f Digalactosyl-diacylglycerol (diGDG), 83 Dimyristoyl-phosphatidylcholine (diMPC), 83 Dioleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (diOPC), 83 “Disjoining pressure,” 134–135 Disproportionation of carbon monoxide, 265, 274 2D liquids, 79 DNA-functionalized nanotube membranes, 129 Double-barreled nanotubes, 24–25 DSSCs, see dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs), 320–321

463 E R Elastollan , 215, 217t, 219, 238 Elastomeric “cruciform,” 211 Electrochemical deposition fabrication of Au/Co nanotubes in alumina membranes, 419 fabrication of multisegmented nanotubes, multi-step approach, 420–421, 421f of TiO2 nanotubes, replication process, 419–420, 419f Electroless metal deposition (Au/Ag), 417, 417f Electroluminescence, 317, 319 Electromechanical gating mechanism, 167–168, 167f Electronic transport in CNFETs CMOS technology, 355 CNFETs – ultimate ultrathin-body Schottky-barrier MOSFETs transport in SB-CNFETs – ambipolar behavior, 371–373 transport in SB-CNFETs – off-state, 366–369 transport in SB-CNFETs – on-state, 369–371 CNTs, material of choice in nanoelectronics, 355–357, 363–365 CNT formed from a graphene stripe, 363, 364f graphene as a zero-gap semiconductor, 363 one-dimensionality, role, 363 small diameter/cylindrical shape, benefits, 365 conventional-type CNFETs charge pile-up in C-CNFETs, 374–376 MOSFETs, scaling and short channel effects, 357–363 improving MOSFET performance – scaling and carrier mobility, 360–361 short channel effects, 361–363 SEM of a ring oscillator fabricated on a CNT, 356, 357f tunneling CNFETs experimental realization, 385–386 lateral scaling of, 383–385 vertical scaling of, 382–383 working principle, 378–382 Endoplasmatic reticulum (ER), 81, 91, 105 ESTP, see Euclidian Steiner Tree Problem (ESTP)

464 Etching of macroporous silicon electrochemistry, 434–435 I–V curve of an illuminated reverse-biased Si-HF contact, 434f etching speed, 435 lithography, 436 etching in KOH, 437f nonuniform pore growth, 444–445 pores with modulated diameter current-only modulation, 440–441 voltage-assisted current modulation, 441–443 pore wall passivation, 436 porosity, 435–436 raw materials required, 433 space charge region, 433–434 anodization setup, 433f top-down approach, 433 straight tubular structures limits, 438–439 stability, 437–438 surface roughness, 438 Euclidian Steiner Tree Problem (ESTP), 89f, 90–91 F Fabrication of artificial nanopores femtosecond-pulsed laser-based technique, 174 ion or electron milling technique, 173 lithographic methods, drawback, 173 nanopores prepared from single carbon nanotubes, drawback, 173 in polymer membranes, 174–184 controlling the geometry of conical nanopores, 177 effects of etching potential on conical nanopore geometry, 177–180 effects of solvent concentration in etching solution, 180 materials, 176–177 reproducible fabrication of conically-shaped nanopores, 180–184 track-etch method, 174–176 Femtosecond-pulsed laser-based technique, 174 Fill factor (FF), 319–320 Fluidity, 77, 79–80, 88, 100, 115, 120 Fluidized bed technique, 270 Fluorescence microscopy, 56, 81, 85, 91f, 95, 98f, 118f, 156 Fluorescence spectroscopy, 14

Index Fluorinated polymers, 304–307 Fullerene-encapsulated CNTs, 39 G Gating, 2–4, 7, 158, 167, 167f, 212–214, 250, 250f, 254 GLNTs, see glycolipid nanotubes (GLNTs) Glycolipid nanotubes (GLNTs), 41–43, 51f GNTs, see graphitic nanotubes (GNTs) Golgi apparatus, 81 Golgi-to-plasma-membrane-carriers (GPCs), 105 GPCs, see Golgi-to-plasma-membrane-carriers (GPCs) Gramicidin A (gA), 12, 12f, 14, 15f Gramicidin channels (as cation nanotubes) antibacterial activity, 11 applications of heterodimers, 19–24 examples of heterodimeric channels, 20–21, 21f heterodimer formation, 19–20, 20f insertion of “extra” atoms, consequences, 23–24, 23f pattern interruptions in L- and D-residues, consequences, 21–22, 22f double-barreled nanotubes, 24–25 gramicidin channel formation and bilayer deformation, 24–25, 24f energetics of channel-bilayer hydrophobic coupling, 25 gramicidin A amino acid sequence, 12f C-aminoethanol blocking group, 12 dimension of, depiction by CPK model, 12, 13f folding, 12, 13f N-formyl blocking group, 12 structure/function analysis of membrane proteins, physical approaches, 14 tryptophan anchoring of, 14f X-ray scattering study, 14 lifetimes, 17, 18f–19f produced by Bacillus brevis, 11 tuning the channel properties, 15–19 conductivity and catalytic cycle, 16 formation and disappearance, 15–16, 15f substitutions in amino acid sequence, effects, 16–19, 17f–18f, 19t Graphene-based transparent conductor film (GTCFs), 319–320

Index Graphitic nanotubes (GNTs), 43–44 GTCFs, see Graphene-based transparent conductor film (GTCFs) H HA, see Hard anodization (HA) Hard anodization (HA), 133 Hard templates, types AAO, 132f production of, MA/HA regimes, 131–133, 133f track-etch membranes, 131 Hemolysin, 1, 2f, 171–172, 171f, 188, 193, 198, 201 α-Hemolysin protein channel, 171–172, 171f HiPCO tubes, 274 Holins, 1 Hydrophobic index (HI), 287–288 ‘Hyperelastic,’ 218–219 I Indium thin oxide (ITO), 317–319, 321 Inkjet printing technique, 293–294 Inorganic nanotubes mechanical properties and thermal stability, 404–407 mechanical stability, 405 polarized resonance Raman measurements of WS2 nanotubes, 404–405 thermal stability, 405–407 WS2 , ultrahigh strength nanocomposites, 405 Young’s modulus of BN nanotubes, 405 methods for growing inorganic nanotubes, 396 morphology of single nanotubes and hybrid nanostructures, 396–404 stability of, 393–394 variety/families of, 395–396 boron and silicon based NTs, 395 metal and metal oxide nanotubes, 395 mixed phase and metal doped NTs, 395 organic/inorganic nanotubes, 396 oxide NTs, 395 rare earth fluorides, 396 transition metal chalcogenide NTs, 395 transition metal halogenous NTs, 395 transition metal nitrides and carbides, 396 See also synthesis of inorganic nanotubes Internal photocurrent efficiency (IPCE), 320

465 Ion channels in living cells asymmetry proton channel, 7–8 common features, 3 as ion transport machines, 3 pore/conducting tube, 3 gating, 3–4 molecular basis of conduction and selectivity, 5–7 diameter of conducting pore, factor, 7 gating in KcsA channel, 7 KcsA channel, ionic transport/ selectivity, 5–6, 6f selectivity of Ca2+ channels, 6–7 relation to synthetic nanotubes, 8 research, 2–3 drug design, 3 selectivity, 4 potassium/sodium/calcium channels, role in cell homeostasis, 4, 5f types, 1 Ion or electron milling technique, 173 IPCE, see internal photocurrent efficiency (IPCE) Isopycnic separation, 290–292 m/s and diameter separation of SWNTs, 292 procedure to obtain highest chirality, 292 surfactants used linear chain surfactants, 291–292 natural bile salts, 291 ITO, see indium thin oxide (ITO) K KcsA channel, 1, 5–6 See also α-type channels Kinesin, 81, 104 Kirkendall effect, 424f, 425 L Lamellar lyotropic liquid crystal phases, 111–112 Leukocyte rolling, 101, 104–106 Leukocytes, 101, 104–106 Lewis basicity, 284 Ligand gated activated channels, 7 Lipid nanotubes (LNTs), 33 biological intercellular communication via tunneling nanotubes, 101–104 intracellular membrane nanotubes, 105 leukocyte rolling, 104–105

466 Lipid nanotubes (LNTs) (cont.) membrane nanotubes mechanically drawn from cell membrane, 106 formation scheme, 35–37 chiral molecular self-assembly, 35–36, 35f packing-directed self-assembly, 35f, 36–37 GLNTs, 41–43 formation and degree of unsaturation, 43 location of a cis-double bond, crucial factor, 43 nanotube formation from cardanol, 42 GNTs, 43–44 formation from HBC self-assembly, 43–44 mechanically formed chemical reactions in nanotube-vesicle networks, 98–101 diffusion in nanotube-vesicle networks, 93–95 formation of branched, knotted and circular nanotubes, 89–93 lipid nanotubes and nanotube-vesicle networks, 83–85 mechanical properties, 81–83 self-organization in, 85–88 tension-driven transport in, 95–98 PLNTs, 37 amphiphiles that self-assemble into organic nanotubes, structures, 38f chiral molecular packing, 39f introduction of diacetylenic triple bond, effects, 37 PNTs, 37–41 atomic force microscopy, findings, 40 CdS-encapsulated PNTs, 41, 42f dumbbell-shaped peptidic amphiphile self-assembly, 39 fullerene-encapsulated CNTs, 39 vesicle-encapsulated microtubes self-assembly, 39, 40f self-assembled applications in technology and biological implications, 116–117 empirical knowledge on, 107–111 theoretical models, 111–116 Liposomes, 39, 80, 84f, 86f, 88–89, 105, 109 Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE), 279, 289, 319, 328 Lithographic methods, 173–174

Index LNTs, see lipid nanotubes (LNTs) “Local” strain, 214, 226–229 LPE, see Liquid phase exfoliation (LPE) M MA, see mild anodization (MA) Macroporous silicon applications materials science, 456–458 microfluidics, 455–456 photonic crystals, 449–455 etching, see etching of macroporous silicon fabrication, methods, 432 “growth” of pores, dependent factors, 432 micro-/macro-porous silicon, 432 post treatment anisotropic form treatment, 447–448 isotropic form treatment, 446–447 modification of pore surface/structure alteration, 445–446 Maltoporin channels, 172 Marangoni flow, 95–96, 96f Mechanically formed lipid nanotubes chemical reactions in nanotube-vesicle networks, 98–101 enzymatic reaction in NVNs, 98f, 99 geometric transitions (compact/ structured), example, 99 reaction-diffusion networks, study, 100–101 reaction rate, dependent factors, 98 diffusion in nanotube-vesicle networks, 93–95 diffusion relaxation of particles in two-vesicle network, 94–95, 94f theoretical models for complex networks, 95 time scales/parameter, 93–94 electrophoresis in lipid nanotubes, 97–98 forces applied to bilayer membranes, techniques, 80–81 formation of branched, knotted and circular nanotubes, 89–93, 89f–90f, 92f nanotubular networks of biological origin, 91, 91f 5-vesicle network, experiments, 89–92, 89f mechanical properties, 81–83 action of mechanical forces, 81f and nanotube-vesicle networks, 83–85 See also nanotube-vesicle networks (NVNs) self-organization in, 85–88

Index three-way nanotube junctions, propagation mechanism, 86–87, 86f zipper dynamics of nanotubes, 87–88 tension-driven transport in, 95–96 Marangoni flow, 95–96, 96f Poiseuille flow, 95 transportation modes, 81 Membrane tether/nanotube, 80–83, 84f, 91, 93, 101–102, 104–106, 191f Mesoscopic structure formation in nanotubes confined to nanoporous hard templates fabrication with hard templates, advantage, 129–130 formation of porous hybrid membranes, example, 129 infiltration of nanoporous hard templates, 133–140 AAOs infiltrated with BCPs, 136–137 capillary molding, 135–136 capillary wetting for microphaseseparated BCPs, 136 “disjoining pressure,” 134 finite/infinite fluid spread on walls of nanochannel, effects, 134–135 infiltration of low molecular weight liquid into a cylindrical channel, 134f with polymer and a volatile low molecular mass solvent, 137 Rayleigh instabilities in PMMA nanofibers, 139–140, 139f “snapoff” mechanism, 134–135 tube/rod hybrid nanofibers, formation, 136–137, 137f multilayer nanotubes by layer-by-layer deposition, 153–158 nanoporous materials as hard templates, 131–133 hard templates, types, 131 phase separation in nanoporous hard templates, 146–153 self-assembly in the walls of single-component nanotubes, 140–146 use of soft templates, 129 wet-chemical etching, drawback, 129 Metal nanotubes, 365, 414, 418f, 421f Metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), 421 Metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET), 355

467 improving performance, 360–361 requirements, 360–361 n-type bulk silicon MOSFET, 357–358, 358f conduction band profile for various gate-voltages, 359f conduction band profile in the on-state of MOSFET for different bias voltages, 359f gradual channel approximation, evaluation of saturation current, 359–360 short channel effects (SCE), 361–363 cylindrical GAA-FET, screening length for, 362–363, 363f down-scaling of the channel length, 362f Micelles, 35–36, 78, 117, 148, 245, 282, 285, 286f, 287, 291–292 Micromanipulation technique, 81 Mild anodization (MA), 131–133 Mixed-phase and metal-doped nanotubes, 414 MOCVD, see Metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) Molecular chirality, 110–111, 113–114 Mooney-Rivlin model, 219 MOSFET, see metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFET) Motor proteins, 81, 104–105 Mullins effect, 220, 236, 238–240 Multiwall nanotubes (MWNTs), 276, 286, 319 MWNTs, see multiwall nanotubes (MWNTs) N Nanopore actuation capacitance and AC measurements, 237–241 Mullins effect, aspects, 238–240 cruciform actuation, “local” strain from, 226–229 experimental and modelled plots, 229f modelled strain distribution in the plane of a cruciform at α = 0.24, 227–228, 228f devices and fluid cells, 215–218, 217f electronic measurements, 232–235 current anisotropy, 232 current-voltage (I-V) characteristics, 232, 234f electrophoretic and electroosmotic currents, 232, 233f PNP theory, 232

468 Nanopore actuation (cont.) pore resistance determination, approaches/models, 232–235, 234f ideal circular conical pore, 230–231 pore profiles for various local strains, 231f ideal cylindrical pore, 229–230 stress and strain profiles (ANSYS modelling), 230f idealised/experimentally characterised pores, differences, 241–242 pores with variable azimuthal geometry, 241 reversible actuation, 212 viscoelasticity in real pores, 235–237 cruciform relaxation and hole size, linearity, 235–236, 236f pristine nanopore, example, 235, 235f stress softening of membrane, effects, 235 Nanopore-based sensors artificial nanopores, 173–174 fabrication of, in polymer membranes, 174–184 tailoring the surface chemistry of, 188–190 biological nanopores electromechanical gating mechanism, 167–168, 167f as resistive-pulse sensors, 171–172 biosensing, application, 166 resistive pulse sensing method, 166 conical nanopore sensors attaching molecular-recognition agents to make highly selective protein sensors, 198–200 characterization of, 184–188 resistive-pulse detection of small molecules, 191–195 resistive-pulse sensing of DNA analytes, 195–198 track-etched, advantages of, 200–201 electric field focusing, 190–191 operating principles of experimental setup, 168 resistive-pulse sensing fundamentals, 168–171 Nanotube dispersion in liquid crystals, 286–287 in non-aqueous solvents, 284–286 dispersing agents in NMP, 285 good dispersion of SWNTs, criteria, 284

Index PVP, stabilization of SWNT dispersions in NMP, 285, 285f SWNT dispersion by conjugated polymers, 286 SWNT isolation by amphiphilic block copolymers, 285, 286f in water, 282–284 CMC, 282 DNA, role in SWNT dispersion, 284 surfactants, use in SWNT dispersion, 282, 283f water-soluble polymers, role in SWNT dispersion, 283 Nanotube/graphene polymer composites desirable characteristics of host polymers, 304–307 conjugated polymers, advantage, 304 important vibration overtones, wavelengths/intensities of, 304t polymers for optical applications, 304–307, 305t–306t PVA, application in SAs, 307 for telecommunication applications, 304 thermal stability, issue, 307 incorporation in host polymer matrices, 301–304 alignment of nanotubes in composites, 302–304 cellulose-based composites, 302 organic/non-aqueous solvents used, 302 SWNT self-assembly process, 303f for photonics, 280–281 Nanotube-vesicle networks (NVNs), 83 detection methods DIC, 85 fluorescence microscopy, 85 and lipid nanotubes, formation of, 83–85, 84f micropipette insertion into lipid vesicle, method, 83 Nanotubular networks of biological origin, 91, 91f Non-ribosomally synthesized channels, 1 Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, 14, 16, 137 NVNs, see nanotube-vesicle networks (NVNs) O OLED, see Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED) OmpF protein channels, 172 Optical microscopy, 223, 307

Index Organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), 319 Oxide nanotubes, 414 P Packing-directed self-assembly, 35f, 36–37 PECVD, see plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) Peptide nanotubes (PNTs), 15, 37–41 pH-gated channel, see kcsA channel Phospholipid bilayers, 56, 78–79, 117, 213 Phospholipid nanotubes (PLNTs), 37, 41, 45, 51f Phospholipids, 12, 56, 78–80, 107, 114, 117–118, 213 Photon counting, 85 Photonic crystals (PC) defects in macroporous silicon, 452–453 2D PCs, 449–452 3D PCs, 453–455, 453f Photovoltaic (PV) device, 304, 319–320 Physarum polycephalum, 91, 91f Plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD), 272–273 Plasma membrane (PM), 11, 79, 83, 102, 105–106 PLNTs, see phospholipid nanotubes (PLNTs) PL spectroscopy, 297, 314, 316f PNTs, see peptide nanotubes (PNTs) Poiseuille flow, 95–96 Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) theory, 232, 243 Polymer composites, photonics and optoelectronics applications characterization of composites optical microscopy, 307 PL spectroscopy, 314 pump probe spectroscopy, 315–316 Raman spectroscopy, 309–314 UV-Vis-IR spectrophotometry, 307–309 Z-scan, 314–315 electroluminescent and photovoltaic devices, 319–321 graphene, ideal OLED anode, 319 graphene, use in DSSCs devices, 320–321 ozone-treated SWNTs films, catalytic activity, 321 photoinduced electron transfer in graphene dispersions, 320 graphene dispersion in aqueous/ non-aqueous solvents, 287–289 anhydrous NMP dispersions, 288–289, 288f

469 bile salt surfactants, hydrophobicity, 287–288 graphene for ultrafast photonics, 328–329 graphene/nanotube networks as transparent conductors, 317–319 graphene-based TC films from CVD/LPE, 319 ITO as TC material, limitations, 317 length of SWNTs, importance in conductivity enhancement, 318–319 preparation methods, 318 inkjet printing of nanotube and graphene dispersions, 293–294 advantage over organic electronic devices, 293 array of inkjet printed SWNT-TFT devices, 294f selective deposition, 293 LPE of graphite, approach, 279 nanotube composites as mode lockers for ultrafast lasers, 324–328 nanotube dispersion in liquid media nanotube dispersion in liquid crystals, 286–287 nanotube dispersion in non-aqueous solvents, 284–286 nanotube dispersion in water, 282–284 ultrasonic treatments of SWNT networks, 281 nanotube/graphene polymer composites desirable characteristics of host polymers, 304–307 incorporation of nanotube/graphene in host polymer matrices, 301–304 for photonics, 280–281 nanotube sorting by chirality/electronic type using DGU, 289–292 analytical/preparative/differential ultracentrifugation, 289 fractionation methods for sorted SWNTs, 291 isopycnic separation, 290–292, 291f post-growth selection, approaches, 289 sorting/enrichment, indications, 289 optical characterizations of nanotube and graphene in dispersions, 294–301 detection of nanotube bundles, 297–299 estimation of nanotube loading, 296–297 optical characterizations of graphene in dispersions, 299–301 saturable absorbers (SAs), 321–324 vs. mechanical applications, 279

470 Polymer self-assembly, 35 Polyvinylalcohol (PVA), 158, 302, 307–308, 308f–309f, 316f, 319, 325, 326f, 327 Pore-forming toxins, 1 Pristine nanopore model, 235–236, 235f Proton channel, 3, 7–8 Pump probe spectroscopy, 315–316 PVA, see polyvinylalcohol (PVA) Pyrolysis (cracking), 268–273 R Raman spectroscopy, 309–314 characterization of composites D and 2D peaks, 312–313 G peak, 314 optical phonons in graphene and CNTs, 310–311 radial breathing mode, 311–312 Rayleigh-Plateau instabilities, 139–140, 139f Resistive pulse method, 166, 212 experimental setup, 168 fundamentals, 168–171 Coulter-counter model, 169–170 ion currents in with/without analytes, 168–170, 169f S SAs, see saturable absorbers (SAs) Saturable absorbers (SAs), 301 as mode lockers for lasers, 324–328 configurations/wavelengths used, 325 mechanism of pulse formation, 326–328, 327f mode-locked fibre laser setup, 325–326, 326f mode-locking mechanisms, 326f SESAMs vs. SWNT composites, 324–325 SWNT growth technologies, 325 nanotube based materials as SAs, 321–324 Selectivity, 4 Selectivity filter, 6–7 Self-assembled lipid nanotubes applications in technology and biological implications, 116–117 empirical knowledge on, 107–111 chirality, role/experiments, 110–111 oldest nanotube-forming lipids, 107, 109f structures encountered in lipid nanotube self-assembly, 107–108, 108f tubule formation, parameters, 109–110

Index theoretical models, 111–116 arguments/unresolved issues, 115–116 chiral elasticity theories, predictions, 115 lamellar lyotropic liquid crystal phases, 111–112 models of Helfrich, 112 nanotube formation of electrostatic origin (de Gennes), 112 Selinger and Schnur experiments, 113–114 tilted bilayer membrane model and chiral packing, 113 Self-assembled organic nanotubes from amphiphilic molecules, 33 applications, see applications of self-assembled organic nanotubes control of polymorphism and rational design of inner surfaces, 52–53 formation scheme of LNTs, 35–37 hollow cylinder as an encapsulation field for biomacromolecular guests, 50–52 molecular building blocks for nanotube formation, 33–35 driving forces, 34 self-assembled into nanotubes, classification, 33–35, 34f present and future aspects, 59–61 recent progress in dimension control inner diameters, 46–48 length, 48–50 outer diameters, 44–46 and TMV, comparison, 32–33, 32f variety of LNTs GLNTs, 41–43 GNTs, 43–44 PLNTs, 37 PNTs, 37–41 Self-assembly of surfactants, 78–80, 79f chemical nature of aggregate lipids, influencing factor, 80 phospholipids bilayer formation, 79 2D liquids, 79 examples/its molecular structures, 79 fluidity, 79 lipid bilayers, characteristics, 80 shape factor and micelles formation, 78 stabilization strategies, 80 Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs), 324–325

Index SESAMs, see Semiconductor saturable absorber mirrors (SESAMs) Shape factor, 78, 242 Short channel effects (SCE), 357–363, 376, 383–384 Size-exclusion chromatography, 14 Slow inactivation, 7 Soft-matter nanotubes biological lipid nanotubes intercellular communication via tunneling nanotubes, 101–104 intracellular membrane nanotubes, 105 membrane nanotubes mechanically drawn from the cell membrane, 106 membrane tethers formed during leukocyte rolling, 104–105 composed of crosslinked amphiphiles, 117–120 mechanically formed lipid nanotubes chemical reactions in nanotube-vesicle networks, 98–101 diffusion in nanotube-vesicle networks, 93–95 formation of branched, knotted and circular nanotubes, 89–93 lipid nanotubes and nanotube-vesicle networks, 83–85 mechanical properties, 81–83 self-organization in, 85–88 tension-driven transport in, 95–98 self-assembled lipid nanotubes applications in technology and possible biological implications, 116–117 empirical knowledge on lipid nanotube self-assembly, 107–111 theoretical models for explaining lipid nanotube self-assembly, 111–116 surfactants applications, 77 phospholipids, role, 77 self-assembly of, see self-assembly of surfactants surfactant membranes, properties, 77–78 vs. hard material nanodevices, 77 Solid-state NMR, 14 Space charge region (SCR), 433–434, 436–438, 440–443, 445 Stevens polyurethane (ST-1522FS-85), 215, 217 Stochastic sensing, see resistive pulse method Stress-strain curves (elastomers), 218f, 220–221, 220f

471 “Supergrowth,” 272, 273f Surfactants in SWNT dispersion bile salt surfactants, 282 ionic/non-ionic, 282 types, chemical structures, 283f See also self-assembly of surfactants Synthesis of BN nanotubes, methods arc discharge, 414 chemical substitution reactions for BN MWNTs, 414 laser ablation technique for BN SWNTs, 414 plasma jet method, 414 Synthesis of inorganic nanotubes applications, 413 atomic layer deposition (ALD), 422–425 fabrication of TiO2 /Ni/TiO2 nanotubes, 423f Kirkendall effect, 424f, 425 TMV treated with TiO2 by ALD, 425, 425f categories, 413–414 chemical vapour deposition (CVD) fabrication of ZnO nanowires, 421, 422f MOCVD, fabrication of NiO/GaN nanotubes, 421, 422f cylindrical geometry-based applications, 413 electrochemical deposition fabrication of Au/Co nanotubes in alumina membranes, 419 fabrication of multisegmented nanotubes, multi-step approach, 420–421, 421f of TiO2 nanotubes, replication process, 419–420, 419f first study on inorganic (WS2) nanotubes (Tenne), 413 one-dimensionality, role, 413 synthesis methods, 414–425 synthesis of BN nanotubes, methods arc discharge, 414 chemical substitution reactions for BN MWNTs, 414 laser ablation technique for BN SWNTs, 414 plasma jet method, 414 synthesis of metals SEM images of MoS2 nanotubes, 415f sol-gel technique, 416, 416f vapour chemical transport method, 414

472 Synthesis of BN nanotubes, methods (cont.) template synthesis electroless deposition of Au/Ag nanotubes, 417, 417f electroless deposition of Co, Ni and Cu nanotubes using AAO, 417–419, 418f Synthesis of metals SEM images of MoS2 nanotubes, 415f sol-gel technique, 416, 416f vapour chemical transport method, 414 T TC, see transparent conductive (TC) Template synthesis electroless deposition of Au/Ag nanotubes, 417, 417f electroless deposition of Co, Ni and Cu nanotubes using AAO, 417–419, 418f Tension-driven transport, 81, 93, 95–98 Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), 211 advantages, 221 failure and structure of, 221–222 failure morphologies, 222 “necking,” 221 material/mechanical properties of, 217t, 218–221 cruciform length variations, experiments/results, 219–220, 219f Hooke’s law, 219 hyperelastic models, 219 Mullins effect, 220 rigidity, 219 stress-strain curves for elastomers, 218f Three-way nanotube junctions, 86–87, 86f TMV, see Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV) TNT, see tunneling nanotubes (TNT) Tobacco Mosaic Virus (TMV), 32–33, 425, 425f TPU, see thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) Track-etch membranes, 129, 131 Transition metal chalcogenide nanotubes, 413 Transition metal halogenide nanotubes, 414 Translocation event, 193, 212, 244–245, 245f–246f, 249f, 250–252, 251f Transparent conductive (TC), 317, 319 Tube/rod hybrid nanofibers, 136, 137f See also capillary wetting Tubulo-vesicular networks, 81 See also endoplasmatic reticulum (ER); Golgi apparatus; nanotube-vesicle networks (NVNs)

Index Tunable elastomeric nanopores actuation capacitance and AC measurements, 237–241 ideal circular conical pore, 230–231 ideal cylindrical pore, 229–230 nanopore actuation – electronic measurements, 232–235 reversible actuation, 212 viscoelasticity in real pores, 235–237 apparatus, materials and nanopores actuation devices and fluid cells, 215–218 cruciforms, 215 fabrication method, 222–223, 222f failure and structure of TPUs, 221–222 “local” strain from cruciform actuation, 226–229 mechanical properties of TPUs, 218–221 nanopore outcomes, SEM/AFM imaging, 223–226, 224f–225f, 227f–228f applications, 211 particle concentration/size/interaction, methods of analysis, 252–253 sensing/gating individual DNA oligonucleotides, 212 sequencing and single polymer interactions, 254–256 virus detection, 253–254 comparison with similar technologies, 212–214 actuation of polymers, 213 comparison with static solid-state pores, 213 detection of viruses, 214 pore resizing, functionalities, 213 tunable nanopores, advantages/ disadvantage, 214 formation in TPU membranes, technology (Izon), 211 current passage through tunable nanopore/cruciform, time measure, 212f “resistive pulse” method, 212 translocation event, 212 translocations electric field and particle flux, 244 observed using elastomeric nanopores, 244–251 resistive pulse signals, 242–243

Index Tunneling nanotubes (TNT), 101–104, 106–107 Two-dimensional elliptical pore, 241f U UV-Vis-IR spectrophotometry, 307–309 W WS2 nanotubes irradiation by electron beam, 406f

473 polarized resonance Raman measurements, 404–405 strong stability against tensile forces, 406f transmission electron diffraction pattern of electrons, 407f as ultrahigh strength nanocomposites, 405 Z Z-scan, 280, 314–315, 316f

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